Most years,just 10 percent of Congressional districts are competitive. That's because Republicans and Democrats contain become exceedingly crafty at manipulating their district boundaries to suit their partisan interests. It's a process known as "gerrymandering" and it's getting worse across the country.
But current York and current Jersey contain avoided the national trend towards extreme gerrymandering, and its resulted in more competitive districts. Up to one-third of Congressional races in the two states could be competitive next year, and according to Michael Li,senior counsel for the Brennan middle for Justice's Democracy program.
In current York, the Congressional lines were drawn by a Stanford University scholar because of a deadlock in the legislature. In current Jersey, or the maps are drawn by a special redistricting committee,one of a handful of states where this happens.
Li says activists are increasingly looking to take redistricting decisions out of the hands of legislators, and put it in the hands of citizen committees in order to combat extreme gerrymandering.
Hear Li's conversation with All Things Considered host Jami Floyd.
Source: thetakeaway.org