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He's wrong, yes, but no, gerrymandering does not affect the presidential election, since the gerrymandered borders are congressional district borders. (Unless y

He's wrong, yes, but no, gerrymandering does not affect the presidential election, since the gerrymandered borders are congressional district borders. (Unless you've got an argument that the state borders are gerrymandered, in which case, let's hear it!)

Brybry 1y ago
I think, indirectly, gerrymandering might impact the presidential election because a) redistricting can cause polling location changes[1] and b) the voter's knowledge/sentiment of living in a gerrymandered system. If either a) or b) impacts voter turnout then it could impact the presidential election even though the districts themselves don't matter. I found some evidence both for and against voter turnout impacts from redistricting[2] or from gerrymandering[3] but it didn't seem conclusive. [1] https://stateline.org/2022/05/20/check-your-polling-place-redistricting-confused-some-voters/ https://stateline.org/2022/05/20/check-your-polling-place-re... [2] https://da.lib.kobe-u.ac.jp/da/kernel/90008864/90008864.pdf https://da.lib.kobe-u.ac.jp/da/kernel/90008864/90008864.pdf [3] https://electionlab.mit.edu/articles/gerrymandering-turnout-and-lazy-legislators https://electionlab.mit.edu/articles/gerrymandering-turnout-...
- MBCook 1y ago
  It could be used electron more of party X, which could be used to get enough votes to make new laws to try to effect voting on a national level. It is more tenuous than the others in the list, but I suspect it could be used. And either way it had the psychological effect of people knowing their vote may not count because they vote for the wrong party in their district and have no chance of their candidate winning.
thomastjeffery 1y ago
The presidential election is not directly gerrymandered. It's also not the president who chooses where ballot locations are, who gets registered and how, or who gets sent a mail in ballot. The more local the politician, the more power they have over the voting system that is used for all elections. Gerrymandering is not just used on its own. The legislators that use their authority to disenfranchise voters use gerrymandering to dodge accountability. When Republican state legislators, congressmen, and senators do this, they do it to disenfranchise the same voters that would vote for a non-Republican president. So yes, it's technically indirect, but gerrymandering obviously affects presidential elections. It couldn't not.

Brybry 1y ago

I think, indirectly, gerrymandering might impact the presidential election because a) redistricting can cause polling location changes[1] and b) the voter's knowledge/sentiment of living in a gerrymandered system. If either a) or b) impacts voter turnout then it could impact the presidential election even though the districts themselves don't matter. I found some evidence both for and against voter turnout impacts from redistricting[2] or from gerrymandering[3] but it didn't seem conclusive. [1] https://stateline.org/2022/05/20/check-your-polling-place-redistricting-confused-some-voters/ https://stateline.org/2022/05/20/check-your-polling-place-re... [2] https://da.lib.kobe-u.ac.jp/da/kernel/90008864/90008864.pdf https://da.lib.kobe-u.ac.jp/da/kernel/90008864/90008864.pdf [3] https://electionlab.mit.edu/articles/gerrymandering-turnout-and-lazy-legislators https://electionlab.mit.edu/articles/gerrymandering-turnout-...

MBCook 1y ago
It could be used electron more of party X, which could be used to get enough votes to make new laws to try to effect voting on a national level. It is more tenuous than the others in the list, but I suspect it could be used. And either way it had the psychological effect of people knowing their vote may not count because they vote for the wrong party in their district and have no chance of their candidate winning.

thomastjeffery 1y ago

The presidential election is not directly gerrymandered. It's also not the president who chooses where ballot locations are, who gets registered and how, or who gets sent a mail in ballot. The more local the politician, the more power they have over the voting system that is used for all elections. Gerrymandering is not just used on its own. The legislators that use their authority to disenfranchise voters use gerrymandering to dodge accountability. When Republican state legislators, congressmen, and senators do this, they do it to disenfranchise the same voters that would vote for a non-Republican president. So yes, it's technically indirect, but gerrymandering obviously affects presidential elections. It couldn't not.