We need a plausible mathematical geometric objective algorithm, or at least limits to tortuousness.
Federal offices need federal controls. Same for voting fraud.
We need a plausible mathematical geometric objective algorithm, or at least limits to tortuousness. I've been thinking the same thing. Just a few thoughts off the top of my head:
- Draw districts so that the sum of the length of all boundaries is minimized.
- Follow political boundaries as much as practical, while still accomplishing #1. County boundaries take precedence, followed by municipal boundaries.
- Ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual preference, political party affiliation, and even voter registration are NOT to be considered. Population is the only consideration.
- For purposes of redistricting, US citizens are the only ones to be counted. Everyone else is a guest, and won't be voting anyway.
Unfortunately, it will probably require a Constitutional amendment to enforce this uniformly in every state. To sweeten the pot, I'll toss out a few more suggestions. Comments and counter-points welcome:
- A state's electoral votes will be allocated per the "Maine model". The candidate achieving a plurality of votes in each Congressional district shall receive one electoral vote from that district. The candidate achieving a plurality of votes in the entire state shall receive two electoral votes.
- A voting machine standard will be established. I'll suggest something like The Open Voting Consortium. It's an electronic voting system using commodity hardware, but it prints a paper ballot. You can see exactly the choices that you made. A bar-code is also printed on the page, and can easily be scanned by a machine to count the votes. If a recount is necessary, the paper ballots are available. And if you doubt the bar-code, a scanner is provided for you at the polling location to double-check your vote(s).
- Standardize voter registration, to confirm citizenship and eliminate ineligible voters. Implement anti-fraud measures to detect things like hundreds of voters at the same address.
- Standardize voter ID at the polls: photo ID required.
- Ban absentee and mail voting except for demonstrated need (i.e. active-duty military, infirm/hospitalized, and pre-planned travel). Standardize early voting procedures to reduce the need for absentee voting.
- Standardize voting procedures and security. Define chain-of-custody requirements for ballots that are similar to those for evidence in a criminal trial (no more "finding" ballots in the trunk of a car).
OK, this became a lot longer than I planned. It's more of a "stream of thoughts" than a thought-out strategy. What did I miss?