League of Women Voters of Asheville-Buncombe County Gerrymander 5k is a walk/run designed to educate the public on gerrymandering, protest the abuse of it, draw national attention, and advocate for a non-partisan redistricting committee.
They are currently looking for sponsors for this November 4, 2017 event that takes place in West Asheville – the route follows the boundary between districts 10 and 11. Download their info packet and sponsorship commitment form PDF: Sponsorship Packet FINAL
What Is Gerrymandering?
Dividing a territorial unit into election districts to give one political party an electoral majority in a large number of districts while concentrating the opposition in as few districts as possible. Gerrymandering is legal; however, racial and extreme partisan gerrymandering are not. The NC state legislature is responsible for drawing district maps after every census and it is customary that the party in power draws map boundaries in order to benefit themselves. New software map-drawing and data-driven voter analysis methods have created “gerrymandering on steroids,” enabling the party in charge to pinpoint and isolate opposition voters.
Why Care?
Gerrymandering greatly reduces officeholder accountability to the voters because they are in safe districts. 40% of the 2016 state legislative races had NO OPPOSITION in the general election. It means voters do not have a real choice, so politicians don’t have to compete for their votes. Competition is absolutely essential for democracy and gerrymandering is a prime suspect in the cause of political/electoral gridlock. It eliminates moderate ideology, and can facilitate extreme agendas–the passing of House Bill 2 is just one example of this.
For information visit the LWV of Asheville-Buncombe County Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ablwv/ or website http://www.lwvab.org/gerrymander-5k/
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