Post Tagged with: "gerrymandering"

FEEDBACK: No more talk on guns. We need action now.

FEEDBACK: No more talk on guns. We need action now.

Kristen French, North Charleston: “The total number of children and teens killed or injured by gun violence nationwide since January 1 is at least 402. In South Carolina, during the same period, 47 people have died and 102 have suffered injuries from gun violence. (More: Gun Violence Archive.)

“I call on the S.C. Legislature to make South Carolina safer from gun violence. Evidence shows that laws strengthening background checks and permit-to-purchase are associated with decreased firearm homicide rates. (See this study).

“The Senate Judiciary Committee should vote NO on bill S. 449, which would gut the concealed carry permit system in our state and allow anyone to open carry without a background check or safety training. In Arizona and Missouri, gun violence has increased dramatically after implementing similar permit-less carry laws.”

by · 02/19/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Feedback
BRACK:  Put an end to gerrymandering

BRACK:  Put an end to gerrymandering

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Perhaps it was naivete, youth or idealism. Maybe all three. But I never felt trapped by gerrymandering during a run for Congress in 2000. I believed people from Seabrook Island to Little River in the First Congressional District were ready for someone different.

Today, of course, I know different. I could have been George Washington himself and not won a seat in Congress that year because of the way the district lines favored Republicans thanks to gerrymandering. After two years of work and more than $500,000 raised, I got 36 percent of the vote – the percentage a Democrat typically got in that seat.

by · 02/12/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views
MY TURN: Both sides need to stop gerrymandering

MY TURN: Both sides need to stop gerrymandering

By Elliott Brack, special to Charleston Currents  |  Gerrymandering is nothing less than a majority government being unfair to the minority of its citizens in a particular area.

It is also an obvious case of bullying by the majority government. If it happened on the playground, people would yell, holler and stop it.

Yet it’s happened repeatedly in our halls of government, and no major challenge has risen to outlaw this practice. Why can’t our legislators understand this unfairness, and move to outlaw it?

by · 11/20/2017 · Comments are Disabled · My Turn, Views
BRACK:  Redrawing political lines is best hope for better legislature

BRACK:  Redrawing political lines is best hope for better legislature

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher  |   State lawmakers have the power to alter the way the legislature works to make it more representative of all South Carolina and, in turn, boost the potential for compromise and better outcomes for taxpayers.

But to do so, they’ll have to do something that’s very hard – hold their egos and political futures in check by redrawing district lines that are more competitive and less self-serving.

by · 08/28/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views
BRACK:  Start now to fix gerrymandering’s ills

BRACK: Start now to fix gerrymandering’s ills

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | A visitor argued during breakfast this week about how politics could change dramatically in the South if progressive politicians spread messages of economic populism to communicate how the current system is stacked against them.

Won’t work, I explained, until South Carolina and neighboring states deal with the scourge of gerrymandering — the intentional manipulation of electoral district lines for political advantage.

by · 06/27/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views