There’s a mockery of democracy known almost exclusively to the United States: Gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is the process of drawing up congressional districts so you encompass the people who are most likely to vote for you. Let’s say the city center is right in the middle of two diverse areas. On the west, you have people who like Democrats. On the east, you have people who like Republicans. A fair system would encompass both sections equally, paying no attention to the political beliefs of the people in the area. But the United States doesn’t use a fair system. Instead, we allow political parties to draw their congressional maps.
In the above example, a Republican would draw their districts so they have slightly more of the east side than the west, while still representing the same number of people. They’re guaranteeing themselves a win, ensuring other districts in the area don’t have enough Democrats to win either. Even if you would have lost the vote in your fairly drawn district, your artificially crafted one will enable you to win anyway.
But Danielle, surely there’s a better way to do this?
There is!
For years, we’ve had access to computer-drawn districts. These follow geographic regions without unfair shapes. Instead of a congressional map looking like an abstract painting, there are large, regularly shaped areas. This ensures that everyone gets their vote heard.
You’ll never guess which party is staunchly against using fair districting ran by unbiased computers.
Republicans.
They currently have an advantage from previously gerrymandered districts, and they don’t want to give that advantage up. The Republican party is very unpopular right now, but, thanks to Gerrymandering (and the other affront to democracy, the Electoral College), they remain in power despite their unpopular politics.
Activists want to raise awareness and bring the fight to Republicans. This font might help.
Gerry
Gerry is “a font created by your congressional districts.” Each gross, misshapen letter is crafted by real U.S. districts. In most cases, these districts represent extreme gerrymandering. Yes, even ‘R’ and ‘A,’ letters that show extremely stretched districts that actually loop around another district almost entirely.
Now, in some cases, geography can make a map look strange. Take, for example, North Carolina above. North Carolina is a state with extreme gerrymandering, made specifically to influence elections and benefit Republicans. However, look at the eastern part of the state. Even in the fixed, computer-drawn map, this area would still look a little weird. Still, geography does not account for the sloppy letters in the Gerry font, the breakdown of democracy in America does.
In 2016, the Republican party gained 33 more seats in the House, despite Democrats getting a million more votes in House races. Over one million votes thrown out over gerrymandering. I don’t care what your political party is, that’s not a democracy. America, you don’t have a democracy.
You can download the Gerry font from UglyGerry.com. You can also use the font to tweet to your representatives right from the site. Let them know you’re tired of partisan gerrymandering.
Frankly, I don’t know what else you’d use the font for. It really is ugly.
Sources:
- Christopher Ingraham, The Washington Post
- Grace Panetta, Business Insider
- UglyGerry.com