It’s true! I really do rig your elections. No kidding around. But it’s not my fault! Political parties use me like a puppet. My brilliant system allows them to dupe you – the voters – into believing elections are fair, that your vote always counts. They like it that way and so do I – but some, like these people at Flushgerrymander.com – want to expose my scam and Flush me from the scene. It ain’t gonna happen – but you can try. Stop me if you can! Ha ha ha!
Isn’t he just awful! After more than 200 years of his shenanigans, it’s time to Flush Gerry Mander!
How can we do that?
It’s simple, really. By 2020, we’ll amend the North Carolina Constitution to replace Gerry Mander with a system that henceforth draws fair and non-partisan voting maps! You’re wondering if We the People can actually do that, aren’t you? Actually, the 170 House and Senate members of the North Carolina General Assembly must do it.
So we should just ask them, right?
Well, that’s the dicey part. Remember, it is they who conspire and connive with Gerry Mander to rig our elections. So they are reluctant to make such a change. It’s us versus them! We the People have to badger, bug, annoy, pester, hound, heckle EVERY elected representative and tell them we want Gerry Mander flushed! Before 2020! And if they want to keep him in power, we need to Flush them too!!!!
We the People participate in our political system by voting for individuals we expect will represent us – to design how our communities look and function with regard to safety, jobs, air quality, housing, and education.
When political parties rig elections for their own power and gain, the result is an unfair and unrepresentative democracy. Elections are non-competitive. Quality candidates are discouraged from running. Voters have fewer choices.
At a time of exhausting political polarization, we need honest, broad-minded representatives who focus on things that matter, not myopic individuals focused on the next hot “wedge issue.” But today our role as voters is being obliterated by extraordinary amounts of money, unchecked corporate power, lobbyists, and – yes – political parties.
In 2016 North Carolina legislative elections – under unfair gerrymandered maps – more than 90 percent of our state legislators either ran unopposed or won by double-digit margins. Not a single one of 13 U.S. Congressional race was competitive. That is NOT democracy!
August 26, 2021
Redistricting, map-drawing, and gerrymandering today? Census 2020 data finally arrived…very late, but earlier than expected. In a raw format, the data is being reconfigured to use in map-drawing software. The 35-member N.C. General Assembly’s joint House/Senate Redistricting Committee has been holding meetings and making plans for the process they intend to follow and the criteria […]
July 8, 2021
The redistricting calendar is moving fast now. Six weeks ago, the 2020 Census released the first public results regarding how the U.S. House of Representatives 435 seats will be apportioned among the 50 states for the next decade. As anticipated, population growth since 2010 means North Carolina will gain a 14th seat! Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, […]
April 8, 2021
As 2021 moves quickly ahead, the time gets closer for the North Carolina General Assembly to exercise its mandate to draw new election district maps for U.S. House of Representatives, and N.C. Senate and House. As well, it’s time for that nasty, orange creature – GerryMander – to emerge from his 10-year hiatus and create […]
March 4, 2021
Finally, we have some clarity on Redistricting 2021 and map drawing – The darned 2020 Census remains incomplete, and the redistricting process cannot move forward until the 2020 Census numbers are delivered to 1) Congress, who will reapportion the 435 U.S. House of Representatives seats among our 50 states; and 2) state legislatures, who will […]
January 6, 2021
Yikes! 2021 is upon us! For those with a passion for authentic democracy – one in which We the Voters are supposed to pick our representatives – this is an anxious time. Why so? The 2020 Census results are nearly complete, and the 435 seats of the U.S. House of Representatives will soon be divvied […]
October 27, 2020
As I write this, there are but 7 days remaining until Election Day 2020. Across our land, voters are swarming to Early Voting sites. Vote-by-Mail ballots are setting records right and left. [When the presidential candidate debate began on Thursday evening, more the 70 million Americans had voted.] It is likely this fall will deliver […]
September 17, 2020
Perhaps you’re not following it, but the crucial Census 2020 is still counting heads due to the pandemic-induced chaos. Early this year, delivery of the count was delayed until April 2021 to accommodate the resulting challenges. Alas, President Trump reversed that extension, and demanded numbers by the original deadline of December 31, 2020. The result? […]
August 11, 2020
Last evening, I finished reading Exposure: Poisoned Water, Corporate Greed, and One Lawyer’s Twenty-Year Battle Against DuPont. It’s more nightmare than bedtime story. Midway through the book, the author in a lonely and anxious mood says, “I knew I had uncovered a terrible truth. I knew it was dangerously real. It had been successfully buried […]
June 30, 2020
The word for the times seems to be turmoil! Everywhere one looks! Corona virus-induced illness and death. Awkwardness of masks and social distancing … and the irrational partisanship that has accompanied both. The loneliness of “shelter in place.” Shutdown of all things normal. Massive unemployment. Bankruptcies in progress and on the near horizon. School closures. […]
April 23, 2020
It’s getting ready to happen again! Soon! A new season of gerrymandering is on the way! When the ink dries on the 2020 Census, political parties – as they have for 2 centuries – will sneak into smoky back rooms in undisclosed locations to pick their voters for the following decade. Yup! You read that […]
March 10, 2020
Primary elections were held in North Carolina last week, part of Super Tuesday. A long ballot with lots of positions to be decided upon by the voters on November 3rd. At least that’s the theory. As it has been for centuries, most seats have already been won – 9 months before we arrive at the […]
February 11, 2020
I speak frequently in my role as spokesman for Flush GerryMander, always beginning with a discussion of DEMOCRACY. Few would find fault with definitions that include “a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people” and “people elect representatives to form a governing body such as a congress.” The operative phrases in […]
December 5, 2019
You might think GerryMander would take a break from rigging our elections during the holidays. But not so. He and our heroine Maeve are facing off once again. Take a look: There it is. No shame on GerryMander’s part – nor by political parties while they continue to steal the value of our votes. So […]
October 21, 2019
"#Gerrymandering is blocking action on climate change, as well as a whole bunch of other issues, things that matter," said Harry Taylor. "Gerrymandering has got to go!" Join the fight for #fairMaps: https://t.co/JsLlfAo1Jx #EndGerrymandering #MondayMotivation pic.twitter.com/hsqH2yGbAO — Gerry Mander (@flushgerry) October 7, 2019 “GerryMander’s got to go! GerryMander’s got to go!” So went the raucous […]
September 10, 2019
Last month, we hoped that the NC court system might deliver some relief for our democracy from the scourge of gerrymandering. On Tuesday, September 3, a three-judge North Carolina panel ruled that state House and Senate district maps are unlawful under the state constitution. Those maps, drawn in 2017, replaced 2011 maps which were also […]
August 13, 2019
Four more mass shootings over the past week: El Paso, Dayton, Chicago, and Gilroy, California. At least 34 dead and 50 injured. Incomprehensible and heartbreaking! It doesn’t stop! And those in position to do something about it, won’t! Most North Carolinians – and most Americans – find this tsunami of murder repugnant and senseless. Most […]
July 9, 2019
In March we closely watched the U.S. Supreme Court arguments in the Common Cause/League of Women Voters v. Rucho case. On June 27, the Court announced their decision. If you care about democracy, value your vote, believe the U.S. is a land of, for, and by the people, the justices let us down! Hard! See […]
May 21, 2019
Tuesday, May 7, saw Common Cause North Carolina hosting the People’s Lobby Day to END GERRYMANDERING. Lots of patter over fair maps in the public realm, but the North Carolina legislative leadership hasn’t even bothered to ignite the stove. No surprise there. The same trend repeats across many other states (Pennsylvania, Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, et. al.) […]
April 2, 2019
The March 27 Charlotte Observer article – “Supreme Court appears split in NC gerrymandering case” – reported on two partisan gerrymander cases, one from North Carolina and another from Maryland, argued before the justices on Tuesday. … and you won’t be surprised to know that GerryMander isn’t pleased. The discussion was about the status of his job, so […]
January 22, 2019
On January 4, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will hear two cases on gerrymandering – Rucho v. Common Cause and Lamone v. Benisek – that potentially could set a national precedent on how to draw fair maps for congressional candidates, and do it in time for the redistricting after completion of the 2020 census. Both cases […]
October 18, 2018
Can’t you just feel Maeve’s frustration? As a voter, she wants to make informed choices about candidates, and believes she’s entitled to watch them faceoff against each other. But far too often – especially in gerrymandered districts – incumbent candidates don’t bother to show up. Since their district is rigged and they are practically guaranteed […]
August 7, 2018
So…young Maeve and that rascal Gerry Mander are at it again…debating the rigging of elections by drawing maps that protect political power and leave democracy in tatters. As usual, headstrong Gerry believes he’s won. But after a well-deserved thwack on the head, he’s again “flushed” out of the scene. Sadly, he’ll be back…unless We the […]
June 28, 2018
Well, now. It’s been quite a month at the U.S. Supreme Court and the the North Carolina General Assembly. For the most part, a steady stream of dreadful court decisions and non-decisions. That prior to Justice Kennedy’s sudden retirement announcement. In Raleigh, a wealth of ill-intentioned legislation, together with fall ballot measures designed to suppress […]
June 14, 2018
Thanks to everyone who joined us Wednesday in Charlotte for the launch event of our Flush GerryMander campaign, featuring a live performance by Gerry Mander himself! Get involved in the fight for fair voting maps or make a donation to support our work. There’s much more to come from the Flush GerryMander campaign!
June 5, 2018
We’re excited to invite you to the official launch event of our Flush Gerry Mander project! Please join us on Wednesday, June 13 at 10:00 a.m. in Charlotte at Morrison Regional Library (7015 Morrison Blvd.) and meet Gerry Mander in person. The event will include a press conference and performance with Gerry Mander himself. We’ll also […]