How to stop gerrymandering

I hope that the people of at least one state will rise up and insist on a change that will eliminate the practice of gerrymandering of districts that elect members to the US House of Representatives. Let's say that one state has 10 congressional districts. A list of every eligible voter in that state should be compiled, with each voter randomly assigned to one of these ten districts. Instead of calling them "districts," which implies that voters live in certain geographical areas, they should be call Cross-Sections. This new system would be called Cross-Sectional Representation.

Random assignment would make each Cross-Section statistically equal - that is, containing equal percentages of black, white, rich, poor, Protestant/Catholic/other, etc. That way, elected Congressmen wouldn't be pandering to the concentrations of specific ethnic/interest groups that gerrymandering creates.

The US Constitution doesn't insist on congresssional districts representing voters within a certain, geographically defined area. In fact, that document doesn't set any defining standards in this regard.

This is a good method of eliminating gerrymandering - at least at the national, congressional level. And since the old system only benefits incumbents and their political parties, we can look forward to the citizens of a CSR state having greater power with this new system.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Steven Searle, just another member of the

Virtual Samgha of the Lotus and

Former Candidate for US President (2008 & 2012)

Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com