Your article on gerrymandering (feature, Oct. 4) might have been stronger if it had drawn on the experiences of non-gerrymandered states. There are more than you think. Not only do Arizona and California use nonpartisan methods for districting, but Iowa has done so at least since the ’70s. There are also seven states with only one district (Arkansas, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming).
Let me stipulate that gerrymandering is nuts, but I thought the story might have also had an entertaining sentence or two about how this issue has somehow gained traction at a time when “Republicans dominate state legislatures at a rate not seen since the Civil War” (Daily Kos, Nov. 14, 2016).
Your article on gerrymandering (feature, Oct. 4) might have been stronger if it had drawn on the experiences of non-gerrymandered states. There are more than you think. Not only do Arizona and California use nonpartisan methods for districting, but Iowa has done so at least since the ’70s. There are also seven states with only one district (Arkansas, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming).
Let me stipulate that gerrymandering is nuts, but I thought the story might have also had an entertaining sentence or two about how this issue has somehow gained traction at a time when “Republicans dominate state legislatures at a rate not seen since the Civil War” (Daily Kos, Nov. 14, 2016).