No Vote Necessary

The Washington Post ^ | November 11, 2004 | David S. Broder

[neverdem]

Redistricting is creating a U.S. House of Lords.

John Mica has pulled off a feat many of us would have thought impossible. He has been elected to Congress without ever having his name on the ballot this year. His story says a lot about what has happened to the House of Representatives, the part of the federal government designed to be closest to the people, but one that has become more like an American House of Lords.

I heard about Mica from Russ Freeburg, a retired Chicago Tribune political reporter who now lives in Mica's Florida district. When Freeburg and his wife went to vote, he noticed something missing. His e-mail tells the story:

"I pointed out to an election official at our polling place that there was no House race on the ballot, even though congressmen and women were up every two years. She immediately called the Volusia County supervisor of elections for an explanation.

"While she was on the phone . . . I was informed that my congressman, John Mica, was unopposed. I said, 'I knew that, but shouldn't his name be on the ballot, with a line below it for a write-in candidate?' That seemed traditional to me. I asked whether Mica didn't need to get at least one registered vote somewhere so he could be returned to Washington as an 'elected official' to serve another two years. The answer came back over the phone that Mica had been 'automatically reinstated in Washington.'

"Well, I covered a lot of politics in Chicago and Washington and elsewhere, but that phrase was new to me. . . . Mica wasn't even listed among the Florida House winners in the Orlando Sentinel the day after the election. It is like he no longer exists and is some sort of...

[neverdem]

Besides gerrymandering, unmentioned is the deliberate movement by folks either from or towards the political arrangements of the various districts, as in moving to a red or blue state to live where they're living in a friendly area.

[Naspino]

Would be interesting to know the last time someone was elected to congress through a write-in.

[polyester~monkey]

With gerrymandering, the House is almost like the Supreme Court. A lifetime appointment unless you really screw up. Neither side can complain because it happens everywhere. The ability for people to gerrymander is what i consider the only flaw in the setup of the country's government, which means we're in pretty good shape!

[Teslas Pigeon]

This does sound very strange. Congressman automatically continue in office until they are defeated or don't run again? Not that I trust the MSM to have told the whole story on this.

[Strategerist]

This does sound very strange. Congressman automatically continue in office until they are defeated or don't run again? Not that I trust the MSM to have told the whole story on this.

Oh, this has been reported a lot. Basically, the advent of super-detailed census data and computer GIS software has made the drawing of gerrymandered districts that still meet court standards but result in "safe" seats incredibly easy. And both parties are motivated to create safe and predictable districts.

Fortunately this basically started happening after the Republicans got a majority.

[NonValueAdded]

Just to clarify ... if at least one candidate registers as a write-in (in other words, there is a bona fide write in candidate), then the line will be provided on the ballot. I believe the supposition is that without some sort of organized write-in campaign, it is a waste of time and tax payer's money to filter out the Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck votes. If the other party doesn't want to put up even a token resistance, then the argument is with them. The ballot is big enough without scoring unopposed races.

To the author's point about gerrymandering safe districts, the author has something there. But complaining about the ballot impact isn't going to fix the problem, only raise the cost of conducting elections.

[reengineer]

This gerrymandering was never a problem until republicans started contolling statehouses, was it?

[Strategerist]

Republicans didn't start the practice of gerrymandering but 99% of house races being uncompetitive is a fairly recent phenomenon.

[Congressman Billybob]

The last write-in who was elected to Congress was David (?) Packard in the 43rd District in California about 14 years ago. Before that, I think it was 20 years to the previous one. Extremely rare, but obviously not impossible.

Congressman Billybob

Click for latest, "Roosting Chickens, and Results of the 2004 Election"

[Congressman Billybob]

This is not new. 95% or more reelection of incumbents has been almost universal for 70 years. In some years, death was an equal or better way of defeating incumbents than elections.

The first and only election in which 100% of the incumbents running were reelected, was in 1790. (That is not a misprint.)

Congressman Billybob

[Strategerist]

Not like it went from 435 competitive races to almost none.

Incumbents always had a huge advantage. Still, 92 and earlier, you'd see some fairly wide house swings.

No more.

[Congressman Billybob]

The changes in party lineup in Congress changed mostly in open seats, not by defeat of incumbents. The Gingrich "miracle" in '94 also involved open seats mostly. The Repubs gained 53 seats (or 54, I forget). Still, the reelection rate for incumbents in that year was 90%.

Billybob

[neverdem]

What's GIS software?

[WOSG]

Um, no not quite.

gerrymandering is as old as democracy in America.
The Democrats kept their hold on the house until 1994 thanks to gerrymandering, well after majorities were voting for Reagan and Bush. ... 1994 was a breakthrough because the gerrymanders broke down.

2004 was another 98% incumbent return rate election.

we need to be concerned about that, but at least most of the m are GOP.

[FoxInSocks]

From the Fairfax County, Virginia, web site:

GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems. It is a computer-based tool used to map and analyze objects and events. It combines the power of a database with the visualization capabilities offered by maps. This helps analysts discover relationships between and among sets of computer-readable, geographically referenced data that they could not see or understand easily without the aid of this technology. More than half a million people in the world use GIS to solve problems in areas such as environmental protection, pollution, health care, land use, asset deployment and routing, natural resources, conservation, business efficiency, education and social inequities.

[Thickman]

Would be interesting to know the last time someone was elected to congress through a write-in.

I think about 20 years ago Joe Skaggs was a write in winner in our southern NM district. He was reelected several times as a Republican.

[DmBarch]

... Basically, the advent of super-detailed census data and computer GIS software has made the drawing of gerrymandered districts that still meet court standards but result in "safe" seats incredibly easy. And both parties are motivated to create safe and predictable districts.

Court standards include mandated majority minority districts to ensure that we get some of the weirdest US reps from those areas. When you put the bulk of the black people in a few districts in the state, the others tend to be more safe for the GOP.

[MNJohnnie]

Geee the Dims run the House for 42 years and Broder et al NEVER HAVE any worries. NOW the Republicans have run if for a decade and it "is turning into the House of Lords"

Note to Broder. It's your side's MESSAGE that is costing you seats loser boy. Your fiscally socialist, socially libertine, rabidly anti-American MESSAGE. The Democrat party will CONINUE to lose until it decides to return to it's Scoop Jackson/John Kennedy roots.