How the GOP is going to rig the next election - no exaggeration

[Bill USA]

How Republicans Plan To Rig The Next Presidential Election, In Six Pictures

Yesterday, Virginia Republicans took the first step to move a GOP plan to rig the Electoral College forward in that state. Similar plans are under consideration in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

The Republican election rigging plan targets blue states that President Obama won in 2008 and 2012, and changes the way they allocate electoral votes to give many of these votes away for free to the Republican candidate for president. Under the Republican Plan, most electoral votes will be allocated to the winner of individual Congressional districts, rather than to the winner of the state as a whole. Because the Republican Plan would be implemented in states that are heavily gerrymandered to favor Republicans, the resulting maps would all but guarantee that the Republican would win a majority of each state’s electoral votes, even if the Democratic candidate wins the state as a whole.

Today, the Center for American Progress Action Fund released a white paper detailing how this Republican election-rigging plan works — including this rather striking visual demonstration of just how effectively Republicans gerrymandered six states that are likely targets of their plan:

Virginia Republicans’ bald-faced power grab - http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/virginia-republicans-bald-faced-power-grab/2013/01/22/0bd6b95e-64b3-11e2-9e1b-07db1d2ccd5b_story.html

Editorial Board

IN A SNEAK ATTACK notable more for its deviousness than its strategic acuity, Virginia Republicans engineered a bald-faced power grab Monday that would radically redraw the state’s electoral map without so much as a “yea,” “nay” or “maybe” from anything so trivial as a voter.

Taking advantage of the absence of a single Democratic state senator, GOP lawmakers in Richmond rammed through a radically gerrymandered map designed to hand them control of the 40-member state Senate, which is now split evenly between the two parties.

They were able to do so, on a vote of 20 to 19, because one Democratic senator was in Washington to attend President Obama’s inauguration. Touche, Republicans! Count that as a new low for hyper-partisanship, dirty tricks and the unaccountable arrogance of power.

The Republican move was executed in the style of a putsch, arising from a conspiracy and with no warning, public input or debate. Pressing their momentary numerical superiority, GOP lawmakers amended a routine House bill by tacking on a new map, devised in secret. Although this is one of the most partisan redistricting plans in Virginia’s history, the Republicans then cut off debate after 30 minutes.
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[Swede Atlanta]

1. Doing this based on Congressional Districts MUST be stopped.

I am not at all opposed to proportional allocation of a state's electoral vote based on the state-wide popular vote or eliminating the electoral college altogether. Actually the latter is the preferred approach.

[Bill USA]

2. The Republicans are becoming more and more clearly an out-right enemy of Democracy.

Last edited Thu Jan 24, 2013, 08:25 PM - Edit history (1)

[silverweb]

3. No joke.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]This is a very organized and imminent plot to wrest the democratic process away from the people, and to establish permanent, absolute, single-party control no matter how the people vote.

While our democratic leaders are investigating legal options, the 1st step in our counteraction is to spread awareness to those who don't normally pay attention and clearly explain the threat.