[DRAFT] Just Gerrymandering or Destorying Democracy?

[Mississippabama]

The issue will not be available to countries with no free and open elections, countries without regional governments, or countries that chose option 2 the last time they got issue 524.




Following a court ruling that district mapmaker Arty San grew district lines in the province of Maryland to specifically benefit his party in the upcoming provincial election, several citizens have been complaining about how to deal with gerrymandering in the future.

1. "It is an outrage," decries political freedom activist @RANDOMNAME@, who is wearing a T-shirt that says Voting Rights for All! "To see that the opposition party has been unfairly suppressed in the provincial congress. Just look at the district lines! District number five looks like a giraffe! District number one looks like an octopus! Given how gerrymandering came to be named gerrymandering in the first place, we might as well rename it sanopussing! The lines must be redrawn, fairly this time, before the next election and the mapmaker fired from his job and tried for his crimes immediately!

2. "Now hold on," interjects Arty San, the mapmaker who has just returned from this morning's court sessions for criminal charges of gerrymandering and related charges. "The reason that I had to make the lines look weird," explains the mapmaker, who is known to say anything to get himself out of trouble, "is because straight lines wouldn't solve the requirements that I'm given. The population equality rules are so strict that if there are two districts with a population difference of two or more, I have to redraw the map. Combine that with majority-minority district requirements, the laws against cutting a neighborhood into multiple districts, and more harsh laws, and straight lines just aren't practical. What you need to do is get rid of all of the laws besides the number of districts required. Plus, it doesn't help that Maryland's southern border is a bunch of zig-zags. Did someone gerrymander the provincial boundaries? Also, you should probably pardon me because I had no choice to make those wacky lines."

3. "While I disagree with getting rid of population equality requirements," begins Nonna Part E. San, Arty San's daughter, who then receives a cold glare from her dad, "I agree that wacky provincial boundaries are causing a problem. Some of our provinces aren't even contiguous! This needs to be fixed by either redrawing province lines or allowing representative districts to cross province lines, preferably both! Of course, some of the problem is due to zig-zaggy national borders, you should straighten those as well through military expansion and conquest. And of course, pardon my father." She then leans in close and whispers into your ear, "I don't support what my father did, and I think that he needs to receive just punishment for his crimes, but if I disagree with him too much on anything, he'll kick me out of the house. Please adopt me; I can't bear living under his harsh rule for much longer."

4. "Shouldn't we let the voters decide?" asks @RANDOMNAME@, the leader of a country that's in the top 0.5% for most political freedom that is visiting your country on a diplomatic region. "Have voters submit what they want their district's boundaries to be, and then two neighborhoods will be in the same district if and only if the majority of residents in each neighborhood voted to include the other neighborhood in their district. Because it was voted on by the people in general, it has to be fair."

5. {option 2 of issue 524 but instead of opening with, "Isn't that how we got into this mess in the first place, by drawing up boundaries?", the person opens with "Why should we even have district boundaries if they make gerrymandering possible?"}

6. "You know, we could use this as a convenient excuse to get rid of those pesky provincial governments," mentions your brother @RANDOMFIRSTNAMEMALE@. "'States' rights! Provinces' rights!' All they do is take away power from you. By abolishing all governments except the federal government, you'd have more power. Of course, you'd still have to split it with the legislative and judicial branches, but you wouldn't have to contest with the governors for power anymore."

7. "I heard people saying that you want to get rid of the animals," says a preschooler wearing a T-shirt that says, "I♥@CAPITAL@ Zoo." "Please don't get rid of the animals! I love giraffes! They're so funny! Just don't get rid of the animals!"

[Mississippabama]

1. Following new legislation in @NAME@, the now more than twenty synonyms for gerrymandering now include sanopussing, smithvipering, and shawcrowing.

2. Following new legislation in @NAME@, gerrymanderers get away with making opposition party districts ten times as large as the districts of the gerrymander's party because the district boundaries are straight lines.

3. Following new legislation in @NAME@, @NAME@ has invaded twelve countries to make one of its provinces contiguous.

4. Following new legislation in @NAME@, poor, crime-ridden districts have no representative because not enough neighborhoods voted to be a part of their district to justify even creating a district for them.

5. Following new legislation in @NAME@, there are no district boundaries.

6. Following new legislation in @NAME@, mayors and governors are now out of jobs.

7. Following new legislation in @NAME@, district mapmakers have been renamed zoo architects and are required to make each district look like a different animal.

[Aclion]

This is really well written and it's clear you did your research into the topic. However I have some advice for you to consider.

1. Each issue option has an effect(called fallout in the submission page), This will come up in a nation feed as "Following new legislation in @@NAME@@, [effect goes here]" and on the nations world factbook. (IE my world factbook reads; "Several citizens have complained about scientists abducting their pets for experimentation, the government has cut taxes in the face of widespread tax evasion, chickens roam the streets freely, and foreign 'investors' have been taking a great interest in the new secret shuttle.") It's important to write this so they'll be grammatically correct and understandable, even for those that haven't seen the issues.

2.Remember that issues are seen by many different nations and most won't have a providence called Maryland(and for some Maryland will be the name of their region, or their nation). It's best to avoid direct references to real world people,places or organizations whenever possible. Generic terms references like gerrymandering are fine, even if they are named after real people but i would still avoid referencing how it got it's name.

3. Issues are written from an in-universe perceptive, it's usually best to avoid referencing aspects of game-play directly (the leader of a country that's in the top 0.5% for most political freedom) instead phrase it in a way that makes sense in-universe (The leader of a country well know for it's free and fair elections).

[USS Monitor]

I think gerrymandering is a viable topic, but there are some problems with this draft in it's current form. The most obvious that immediately leap out are:

1. Maryland is too recognizable as a specific US state. Come up with something more generic or a name that is funny in context. The original "gerrymander" was a district in Massachusetts, so maybe you could make a reference to that. The name "Massachusetts" is too distinctive to use, but something like "Hillshire," which has the same meaning, but is less immediately recognizable, would work.

2. You have a lot of options, including one that you're borrowing from an existing issue. Cut the list down, and in particular #5 needs to be removed or replaced with something written from scratch.

Since we already have an issue about districting, you'll want to take this in a direction that separates it from 524. For example, you could deal with the question of what to do after gerrymandering flipped the results of an election. Do you redo the election? That question wasn't covered in 524.

[Mississippabama]

This is really well written and it's clear you did your research into the topic. However I have some advice for you to consider.

1. Each issue option has an effect(called fallout in the submission page), This will come up in a nation feed as "Following new legislation in @@NAME@@, [effect goes here]" and on the nations world factbook. (IE my world factbook reads; "Several citizens have complained about scientists abducting their pets for experimentation, the government has cut taxes in the face of widespread tax evasion, chickens roam the streets freely, and foreign 'investors' have been taking a great interest in the new secret shuttle.") It's important to write this so they'll be grammatically correct and understandable, even for those that haven't seen the issues.

2.Remember that issues are seen by many different nations and most won't have a providence called Maryland(and for some Maryland will be the name of their region, or their nation). It's best to avoid direct references to real world people,places or organizations whenever possible. Generic terms references like gerrymandering are fine, even if they are named after real people but i would still avoid referencing how it got it's name.

3. Issues are written from an in-universe perceptive, it's usually best to avoid referencing aspects of game-play directly (the leader of a country that's in the top 0.5% for most political freedom) instead phrase it in a way that makes sense in-universe (The leader of a country well know for it's free and fair elections).

1. Do you mean writing it on the original post instead of in a separate reply?

2. You have to admit though; Maryland does look gerrymandered. It's so narrow around Elkton and Hancock, but then it gets wider again. West Virginia also looks gerrymandered, with its border jutting out randomly in a spike to the north and what looks like a dead brontosaur's head and neck stretching east. Anyway, the reason that I included Maryland was to give Arty San a sense of justification when he complains of his province's southern border being "a bunch of zig-zags," so people who look it up would know what he's talking about. Also, referencing the word origins of gerrymander is essential for the current effect of option number one.

3. I'll think about it, but I'll definitely change it if I don't get rid of that option.

[Ransium]

A bit too much like #524 IMO.

[Mississippabama]

I think gerrymandering is a viable topic, but there are some problems with this draft in it's current form. The most obvious that immediately leap out are:

1. Maryland is too recognizable as a specific US state. Come up with something more generic or a name that is funny in context. The original "gerrymander" was a district in Massachusetts, so maybe you could make a reference to that. The name "Massachusetts" is too distinctive to use, but something like "Hillshire," which has the same meaning, but is less immediately recognizable, would work.

2. You have a lot of options, including one that you're borrowing from an existing issue. Cut the list down, and in particular #5 needs to be removed or replaced with something written from scratch.

Since we already have an issue about districting, you'll want to take this in a direction that separates it from 524. For example, you could deal with the question of what to do after gerrymandering flipped the results of an election. Do you redo the election? That question wasn't covered in 524.

1. I'll probably use that, one of the district in Maryland, which the Democrats gerrymandered, in Pennsylvania, which the Republicans gerrymandered, or in North Carolina, which the Republicans were caught gerrymandering.








2. How about this?

(inserted between options one and two)
"While I agree that Arty San must be punished, I don't think that the existing punishments are harsh enough. In general, if someone abuses our system of democracy is this or any other way, they need their right to use it taken any so they can't abuse it again. That's right: Arty San must not be allowed to vote in any @DENONYM@ election, federal or local, for the rest of his life. Also, I think that punishments in @NAME@ are too lax in general. For example, the Tertiary Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs refusal to assist in the construction of a diplomatic treaty that would have prevented the @RANDOMDENONYMADJECTIVE@ War directly led to the death of thousands of innocent @RANDOM DENONYM ADJECTIVE@ civilians. We've tried and convicted several generals for their war crimes, but we need to execute the Tertiary Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for a thousand counts of manslaughter, the civilian deaths in the war that is his fault. You should also free my friend from his sentence after he was convicted of trying to kill the Tertiary Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs before Tertiary Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs caused the war to happen because the only reason that my friend tried to kill him was because he knew that that would happen, and he was trying to prevent the civilians' deaths."

Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, the trolley dilemma is used as precedent in the verdict of over ninety percent of @DENONYMADJECTIVE@ court cases.

[Mississippabama]

A bit too much like #524 IMO.

I put in a new option that takes it in a whole new direction about justice system changes. Also, I think that the option involving the preschooler, if still on the same theme, was pretty radical in terms of ideological radicality.

[Trotterdam]

2. How about this?

(inserted between options one and two)
"While I agree that Arty San must be punished, I don't think that the existing punishments are harsh enough. In general, if someone abuses our system of democracy is this or any other way, they need their right to use it taken any so they can't abuse it again. That's right: Arty San must not be allowed to vote in any @DENONYM@ election, federal or local, for the rest of his life. Also, I think that punishments in @NAME@ are too lax in general. For example, the Tertiary Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs refusal to assist in the construction of a diplomatic treaty that would have prevented the @RANDOMDENONYMADJECTIVE@ War directly led to the death of thousands of innocent @RANDOM DENONYM ADJECTIVE@ civilians. We've tried and convicted several generals for their war crimes, but we need to execute the Tertiary Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for a thousand counts of manslaughter, the civilian deaths in the war that is his fault. You should also free my friend from his sentence after he was convicted of trying to kill the Tertiary Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs before Tertiary Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs caused the war to happen because the only reason that my friend tried to kill him was because he knew that that would happen, and he was trying to prevent the civilians' deaths."

An option half this length would be at the long end of what's normally allowed.

[USS Monitor]

This is really well written and it's clear you did your research into the topic. However I have some advice for you to consider.

1. Each issue option has an effect(called fallout in the submission page), This will come up in a nation feed as "Following new legislation in @@NAME@@, [effect goes here]" and on the nations world factbook. (IE my world factbook reads; "Several citizens have complained about scientists abducting their pets for experimentation, the government has cut taxes in the face of widespread tax evasion, chickens roam the streets freely, and foreign 'investors' have been taking a great interest in the new secret shuttle.") It's important to write this so they'll be grammatically correct and understandable, even for those that haven't seen the issues.

2.Remember that issues are seen by many different nations and most won't have a providence called Maryland(and for some Maryland will be the name of their region, or their nation). It's best to avoid direct references to real world people,places or organizations whenever possible. Generic terms references like gerrymandering are fine, even if they are named after real people but i would still avoid referencing how it got it's name.

3. Issues are written from an in-universe perceptive, it's usually best to avoid referencing aspects of game-play directly (the leader of a country that's in the top 0.5% for most political freedom) instead phrase it in a way that makes sense in-universe (The leader of a country well know for it's free and fair elections).

1. Do you mean writing it on the original post instead of in a separate reply?

2. You have to admit though; Maryland does look gerrymandered. It's so narrow around Elkton and Hancock, but then it gets wider again. West Virginia also looks gerrymandered, with its border jutting out randomly in a spike to the north and what looks like a dead brontosaur's head and neck stretching east. Anyway, the reason that I included Maryland was to give Arty San a sense of justification when he complains of his province's southern border being "a bunch of zig-zags," so people who look it up would know what he's talking about. Also, referencing the word origins of gerrymander is essential for the current effect of option number one.

3. I'll think about it, but I'll definitely change it if I don't get rid of that option.

Maryland's borders AREN'T a result of gerrymandering, though. Someone was confused about how far north the Potomac River went when they chose that for the state line, and Chesapeake Bay has zig-zaggy shorelines.

[USS Monitor]

A bit too much like #524 IMO.

I put in a new option that takes it in a whole new direction about justice system changes. Also, I think that the option involving the preschooler, if still on the same theme, was pretty radical in terms of ideological radicality.

The issue needs to bring in a new angle before you get to the options.

[Mississippabama]

I put in a new option that takes it in a whole new direction about justice system changes. Also, I think that the option involving the preschooler, if still on the same theme, was pretty radical in terms of ideological radicality.

The issue needs to bring in a new angle before you get to the options.

How about this?



8. "While he's on the right track," begins your Minister of Creative Doodles, while scribbling over a laminated map of @NAME@'s provincial borders with a black Sharpie, "how interesting would, say, a district shapes like...say...the @DEMONYMADJECTIVE@ lesser-antennaed slug, found at over half of @NAME@'s zoos, be? Let me just finish this section..." your minister begins scribbling furiously, somehow coating herself in a fine layer of black Sharpie ink, and her glasses fall off before she hands the map to you. "Done!" she exclaims. "Now visitors can go horseback-riding, be devoured by a dragon, witness a bull stampede, see kangaroos kick-box, and more, all from up close. Tourism will soar; we'll have attract more visitors than Jurassic Park: Witness the Dead Brontosaur's Head and Neck that are Currently Sticking out of the East Side of West Virginia!"
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, district mapmakers are paid on how much gerrymandering-tourism their provinces receive under their maps.

9. "I personally don't care what happens to the gerrymanders," says @RANDOMNAME@ "as long as the maps are redrawn by unbiased courts to be fair. Otherwise, gerrymanderers would always their their way, wouldn't they?"
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, bribing judges is the new gerrymandering.

10. "That's not enough!" claims John Whitmire. "When they," pointing to his colleges of the opposite party "gerrymander, they always get caught, but by then, it's already over halfway to the next census! Even though the maps that they draw are replaced with fair maps, they've already rigged several elections! Lengthy court proceedings or not, district maps need to be approved by courts before they go into effect in the first place!"
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, the current district maps in the province of Texas are based on censuses taken in 1980.

11. "Why's he pointing the finger at us?" asks Jane Nelson. "The real problem with gerrymandering is that everyone makes too big of a deal about it. So we've gerrymandered Texas year after year. Their party is doing the same with Maryland. I wonder how much money they paid Arty San.... Anyway, not does gerrymandering by different parties all cancel out in the end, but populations change. Gerrymandering, contrary to what some people say, is not a threat to our democracy.
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, @NAME@'s government no longer does anything to prevent gerrymandering.

[Australian rePublic]

Well researched and well written. Well done Very good issue. Now let's take a look

1. Option 1, how did gerrymandering get that name? You state that it's important, but don't state how. I hadn't even heard of it until I saw this issue
2. Option 2, Who said anything about majority-minority representation? Since when is that a requirement
3. Yea but there's a reason why state and federal lines in the United States aren't straight, rivers. Rivers don't flow in straight lines. Also, to the North, you have the Great Lakes,, which further complicate drawing state lines. And there are mountains. Also, the fact that you SPECIFICALLY mention non-continguous provinces means that they're important, yet despite them, it's still possible to draw electral boundaries around non-contingous provinces. Also, non-contingous could mean islands, and they don't have straight lines. Also, this "Please adopt me" goes off an unnecassery tangent. The issue is long enough as it is. I say get rid of that part. Also, if she's old enough to stand in front of parliment and suggest declaring war, isn't she old enough to get a job and move out?
4. This issue is very long, are you able to shrink some of the options?
5. Option 5, ha?
6. Option 6, are they states or are they provinces? I would stick with province. It more universally means subdivisions
7. Contrary to what USS says, I would think that Maryland is probably one of the least known US states outside of America. I know Maryland, but that's because I have a keen interest in geography, and made a point to try to be able to know the name of every USA state. However, that doesn't mean that he/she is not right. This issue IS too American, depsite the reference to Maryland (which I will get to in my next point). BuT there's nothing great about Maryland. It's not even creative. Could I suggest @@ANIMAL@@ Province? Which may not be creative or fun, but is atleast unique to @@NAME@@, or another one I created was Taswaii, the island province (which is a combination between Australia's island state of Tasmania and the USA's island state of Hawaii)
8. This issue is too American in nature. Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic issue, but a few minor changes could go a long way
9. Majorities and minorities equally represented in every seat. How do you expect that to work? It might work in SOME US states, because of the history of slavery and the amount of black people distributed across the entire state, and still remaining the minority (for some reason), but it doesn't work like that outside the USA. Take Sydney, Australia for example:

Most Arabs/Muslims live in the Bankstown area, many people in the Eastern suburbs are Jews, most people in the Shire and Northern Beachesare usually Anglo, Redfern is mostly Aboriginal, Greeks are in Brighton/Bexley/that area etc. Every ethnic group has itsown area, therefore drawing up elctorates where there are ethnic groups would be like refusing to acknowledge Chinatown because there aren't enough Lebanese resturants. And this is just within ONE city

[Mississippabama]

Well researched and well written. Well done Very good issue. Now let's take a look

1. Option 1, how did gerrymandering get that name? You state that it's important, but don't state how. I hadn't even heard of it until I saw this issue
2. Option 2, Who said anything about majority-minority representation? Since when is that a requirement
3. Yea but there's a reason why state and federal lines in the United States aren't straight, rivers. Rivers don't flow in straight lines. Also, to the North, you have the Great Lakes,, which further complicate drawing state lines. And there are mountains. Also, the fact that you SPECIFICALLY mention non-continguous provinces means that they're important, yet despite them, it's still possible to draw electral boundaries around non-contingous provinces. Also, non-contingous could mean islands, and they don't have straight lines. Also, this "Please adopt me" goes off an unnecassery tangent. The issue is long enough as it is. I say get rid of that part. Also, if she's old enough to stand in front of parliment and suggest declaring war, isn't she old enough to get a job and move out?
4. This issue is very long, are you able to shrink some of the options?
5. Option 5, ha?
6. Option 6, are they states or are they provinces? I would stick with province. It more universally means subdivisions
7. Contrary to what USS says, I would think that Maryland is probably one of the least known US states outside of America. I know Maryland, but that's because I have a keen interest in geography, and made a point to try to be able to know the name of every USA state. However, that doesn't mean that he/she is not right. This issue IS too American, depsite the reference to Maryland (which I will get to in my next point). BuT there's nothing great about Maryland. It's not even creative. Could I suggest @@ANIMAL@@ Province? Which may not be creative or fun, but is atleast unique to @@NAME@@, or another one I created was Taswaii, the island province (which is a combination between Australia's island state of Tasmania and the USA's island state of Hawaii)
8. This issue is too American in nature. Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic issue, but a few minor changes could go a long way
9. Majorities and minorities equally represented in every seat. How do you expect that to work? It might work in SOME US states, because of the history of slavery and the amount of black people distributed across the entire state, and still remaining the minority (for some reason), but it doesn't work like that outside the USA. Take Sydney, Australia for example:

Most Arabs/Muslims live in the Bankstown area, many people in the Eastern suburbs are Jews, most people in the Shire and Northern Beachesare usually Anglo, Redfern is mostly Aboriginal, Greeks are in Brighton/Bexley/that area etc. Every ethnic group has itsown area, therefore drawing up elctorates where there are ethnic groups would be like refusing to acknowledge Chinatown because there aren't enough Lebanese resturants. And this is just within ONE city

1. the Voting Rights Act in 1965
2. Yeah, when I wrote that, I was worried that the angry glance might not be obvious enough, and I didn't want her character to be corrupted, but you're right; I can get rid of that.
3. There are I think currently twelve options, so I think that it's inherently wrong. I submitted a 17-option issue once; I haven't received a telegram on it or any of the other options that I submitted.
4. I'm going to actually write the issue in the latest version that I'll write at the end of this post.
5. They're provinces, but I was concerned that some Americans could feel excluded or alienated having him say only "Provinces' rights!", and likewise, Canadians and members of other countries that are divided into provinces could likewise get angry if I only wrote, "States' rights!"
6. I was going to mention West Virginia and the dead brontosaurs's head and neck that are currently sticking out of its east side, but I think that Maryland looks even more gerrymandered in terms of state borders. However, West Virginia is second.
7. Name a province that looks even more gerrymandered than Maryland, and I'll happily replace Maryland with its name.
8. I don't think that issues have to represent each and every modern-day country, but only a significant fraction.

Also, here's the most recent draft of the entire issue:

1. "It is an outrage," decries political freedom activist @RANDOMNAME@, who is wearing a T-shirt that says Voting Rights for All! "To see that the opposition party has been unfairly suppressed in the provincial congress. Just look at the district lines! District number five looks like a giraffe! District number one looks like an octopus! Given how gerrymandering came to be named gerrymandering in the first place, we might as well rename it sanopussing!"
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, the now more than twenty synonyms for gerrymandering now include sanopussing, smithvipering, and shawcrowing.

2. "While I agree that Arty San must be punished, I don't think that the existing punishments are harsh enough. In general, if someone abuses our system of democracy is this or any other way, they need their right to use it taken any so they can't abuse it again. That's right: Arty San must not be allowed to vote in any @DENONYM@ election, federal or local, for the rest of his life. Also, I think that punishments in @NAME@ are too lax in general. For example, the Tertiary Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs refusal to assist in the construction of a diplomatic treaty that would have prevented the @RANDOMDENONYMADJECTIVE@ War directly led to the death of thousands of innocent @RANDOM DENONYM ADJECTIVE@ civilians. We've tried and convicted several generals for their war crimes, but we need to execute the Tertiary Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for a thousand counts of manslaughter, the civilian deaths in the war that is his fault. You should also free my friend from his sentence after he was convicted of trying to kill the Tertiary Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs before Tertiary Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs caused the war to happen because the only reason that my friend tried to kill him was because he knew that that would happen, and he was trying to prevent the civilians' deaths."
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, the trolley dilemma is used as precedent in the verdict of over ninety percent of @DENONYMADJECTIVE@ court cases.

3. "Now hold on," interjects Arty San, the mapmaker who has just returned from this morning's court sessions for criminal charges of gerrymandering and related charges. "The reason that I had to make the lines look weird," explains the mapmaker, who is known to say anything to get himself out of trouble, "is because straight lines wouldn't solve the requirements that I'm given. The population equality rules are so strict that if there are two districts with a population difference of two or more, I have to redraw the map. Combine that with majority-minority district requirements, the laws against cutting through neighborhoods, and more harsh laws, and straight lines just aren't practical. What you need to do is abolish of all of the laws besides the number of districts required. Plus, it doesn't help that Maryland's southern border is a bunch of zig-zags. Did someone gerrymander the provincial boundaries? Also, you should probably pardon me because I had no choice to make those wacky lines."
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, gerrymanderers get away with making opposition party districts ten times as large as the districts of the gerrymander's party because the district boundaries are straight lines.

4. "While I disagree with getting rid of population equality requirements," begins Nonna Part E. San, Arty San's daughter, who then receives a cold glare from her dad, "I agree that wacky provincial boundaries are causing a problem. Some of our provinces aren't even contiguous! This needs to be fixed by either redrawing province lines or allowing representative districts to cross province lines, preferably both! Of course, some of the problem is due to zig-zaggy national borders, you should straighten those as well through military expansion and conquest."
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, @NAME@ has invaded twelve countries to make one of its provinces contiguous.

5. "Shouldn't we let the voters decide?" asks @RANDOMNAME@, the leader of a country that's in the top 0.5% for most political freedom that is visiting your country on a diplomatic region. "Have voters submit what they want their district's boundaries to be, and then two neighborhoods will be in the same district if and only if the majority of residents in each neighborhood voted to include the other neighborhood in their district. Because it was voted on by the people in general, it has to be fair."
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, poor, crime-ridden districts have no representative because not enough neighborhoods voted to be a part of their district to justify even creating a district for them.

6. "Why should we even have district boundaries if they make gerrymandering possible?" asks @@RANDOMNAME@@, the leader of a well-meaning little liberal party that has consistently failed to gain any representation under the current system. "We can only prevent gerrymandering by giving different representatives to different districts, and instead elect representatives based on how many votes the parties get nationally. It might lead to complicated coalitions and a risk for complete failure to agree on anything...but at least it will be fair."
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, there are no district boundaries.

7. "You know, we could use this as a convenient excuse to get rid of those pesky provincial governments," mentions your brother @RANDOMFIRSTNAMEMALE@. "'States' rights! Provinces' rights!' All they do is take away power from you. By abolishing all governments except the federal government, you'd have more power. Of course, you'd still have to split it with the legislative and judicial branches, but you wouldn't have to contest with the governors for power anymore."
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, mayors and governors are now out of jobs.

8. "I heard people saying that you want to get rid of the animals," says a preschooler wearing a T-shirt that says, "I♥@CAPITAL@ Zoo." "Please don't get rid of the animals! I love giraffes! They're so funny! Just don't get rid of the animals!"
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, district mapmakers have been renamed zoo architects and are required to make each district look like a different animal.

9. "While he's on the right track," begins your Minister of Creative Doodles, while scribbling over a laminated map of @NAME@'s provincial borders with a black Sharpie, "how interesting would, say, a district shapes like...say...the @DEMONYMADJECTIVE@ lesser-antennaed slug, found at over half of @NAME@'s zoos, be? Let me just finish this section..." your minister begins scribbling furiously, somehow coating herself in a fine layer of black Sharpie ink, and her glasses fall off before she hands the map to you. "Done!" she exclaims. "Now visitors can go horseback-riding, be devoured by a dragon, witness a bull stampede, see kangaroos kick-box, and more, all from up close. Tourism will soar; we'll have attract more visitors than Jurassic Park: Witness the Dead Brontosaur's Head and Neck that are Currently Sticking out of the East Side of West Virginia!"
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, district mapmakers are paid on how much gerrymandering-tourism their provinces receive under their maps.

10. "I personally don't care what happens to the gerrymanders," says @RANDOMNAME@ "as long as the maps are redrawn by unbiased courts to be fair. Otherwise, gerrymanderers would always their their way, wouldn't they?"
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, bribing judges is the new gerrymandering.

11. "That's not enough!" claims John Whitmire. "When they," pointing to his colleges of the opposite party "gerrymander, they always get caught, but by then, it's already over halfway to the next census! Even though the maps that they draw are replaced with fair maps, they've already rigged several elections! Lengthy court proceedings or not, district maps need to be approved by courts before they go into effect in the first place!"
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, the current district maps in the province of Texas are based on censuses taken in 1980.

12. "Why's he pointing the finger at us?" asks Jane Nelson. "The real problem with gerrymandering is that everyone makes too big of a deal about it. So we've gerrymandered Texas year after year. Their party is doing the same with Maryland. I wonder how much money they paid Arty San.... Anyway, not does gerrymandering by different parties all cancel out in the end, but populations change. Gerrymandering, contrary to what some people say, is not a threat to our democracy.
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, @NAME@'s government no longer does anything to prevent gerrymandering.[/quote]

[Australian rePublic]

Once agaon. This is too Americanized! I would start by de-Americanising it

[Mississippabama]

Once agaon. This is too Americanized! I would start by de-Americanising it

The thing is that if I use something that isn't well-know in real life for Jurassic Park: Witness the Dead Brontosaur's Head and Neck that are Currently Sticking out of the East Side of West Virginia.

[Australian rePublic]

Once agaon. This is too Americanized! I would start by de-Americanising it

Well, I live on the Gulf Coast, so referencing places like West Virginia, which really does have a dead brontosaurs's head and neck sticking out of its east, and Texas, which gets caught gerrymandering each and every decade, is just using my knowledge base. Maybe some NS players from foreign countries could suggest provinces in their home countries that I could replace Maryland and West Virginia with?

You're NOT supposed to name real places. This is an issue about @@NAME@@, NOT the United States of America. Replace real places with imaginary ones. Replace real provinces with imaginary ones. Why would @@NAME@@ make laws based on the voting system of a foreign country? It makes no sense. Honestly, changing @@NAME@@'s voting system because of the USA would be like the USA changing your voting system because Canada decided to ditch the British monarchy. That would have absolutely no impact on the USA, just like how the USA's system would have absolutely no impact on @@NAME@@.

Also, option 1, "Do you know how Gerrymandering got it's name?" yea, some obscure, far away nation arbitrarily decided to name it that, because they have some obscure voting law which was manipulated, under a completely different voting system. You should really know that and it makes a giant impact on our nation. I mean it's not unreasonable to expect @@LEADER@@ to know every word of every nation's law, I mean it doesn't matter how many laws there are.


I'll show you what the probme is here. Pretend that you're the US president. Now, random people on the street are telling you this stuff:
@@NAME@@ has a problem with littering. These litterers are called "tossers" by the New South Wales police. Do you know how the word "tossers" got its name?
Adelaide was the world's hottest capital city on Christmas 2017. Quick, better check all the air conditioners, before December comes
South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales are fighting over who should get the limited amount of water in the Murray River. Therefore, we desperately need to start negotiations with New York state, the federal government, Canada and Ontario about who should get the finate amount of water from Niagara Falls
Greece and Cyprus are fighting for no recognitition for Northern Cyprus. Take notes on what they're doing before the Canadian invasion of Alaska
Athen's Olympic stadiums are being completely unused and are more or less abandoned. We should never host the Olympics again!

[Mississippabama]

The thing is that if I use something that isn't well-know in real life for Jurassic Park: Witness the Dead Brontosaur's Head and Neck that are Currently Sticking out of the East Side of West Virginia.

You're NOT supposed to name real places. This is an issue about @@NAME@@, NOT the United States of America. Replace real places with imaginary ones. Replace real provinces with imaginary ones. Why would @@NAME@@ make laws based on the voting system of a foreign country? It makes no sense. Honestly, changing @@NAME@@'s voting system because of the USA would be like the USA changing your voting system because Canada decided to ditch the British monarchy. That would have absolutely no impact on the USA, just like how the USA's system would have absolutely no impact on @@NAME@@.

Also, option 1, "Do you know how Gerrymandering got it's name?" yea, some obscure, far away nation arbitrarily decided to name it that, because they have some obscure voting law which was manipulated, under a completely different voting system. You should really know that and it makes a giant impact on our nation. I mean it's not unreasonable to expect @@LEADER@@ to know every word of every nation's law, I mean it doesn't matter how many laws there are.


I'll show you what the probme is here. Pretend that you're the US president. Now, random people on the street are telling you this stuff:
@@NAME@@ has a problem with littering. These litterers are called "tossers" by the New South Wales police. Do you know how the word "tossers" got its name?
Adelaide was the world's hottest capital city on Christmas 2017. Quick, better check all the air conditioners, before December comes
South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales are fighting over who should get the limited amount of water in the Murray River. Therefore, we desperately need to start negotiations with New York state, the federal government, Canada and Ontario about who should get the finate amount of water from Niagara Falls
Greece and Cyprus are fighting for no recognitition for Northern Cyprus. Take notes on what they're doing before the Canadian invasion of Alaska
Athen's Olympic stadiums are being completely unused and are more or less abandoned. We should never host the Olympics again!

I'm going to reply to you in the same fashion:

We need to rename St. Petersburg, Florida! There was a metro attack in St. Petersburg, Russia, and we don't want any Floridans to die! (Point: Names are not exclusive to one particular place. Have you heard of Venice, California?)







Now back to a format that isn't naturally confusing. Gerrymandering currently has no widely used synonyms in the English language. That means that if you speak primarily English, then that's the word that you used to refer to drawing the representative maps in any area to intentionally effect Congress/Parliament races in any way, whether it happened in your country or not. Gerrymandering isn't some obscure piece of slang that's only ever used in conversation in New England, or even in the U.S.. It's used in English-speaking countries throughout the world.

[Australian rePublic]

You're NOT supposed to name real places. This is an issue about @@NAME@@, NOT the United States of America. Replace real places with imaginary ones. Replace real provinces with imaginary ones. Why would @@NAME@@ make laws based on the voting system of a foreign country? It makes no sense. Honestly, changing @@NAME@@'s voting system because of the USA would be like the USA changing your voting system because Canada decided to ditch the British monarchy. That would have absolutely no impact on the USA, just like how the USA's system would have absolutely no impact on @@NAME@@.

Also, option 1, "Do you know how Gerrymandering got it's name?" yea, some obscure, far away nation arbitrarily decided to name it that, because they have some obscure voting law which was manipulated, under a completely different voting system. You should really know that and it makes a giant impact on our nation. I mean it's not unreasonable to expect @@LEADER@@ to know every word of every nation's law, I mean it doesn't matter how many laws there are.


I'll show you what the probme is here. Pretend that you're the US president. Now, random people on the street are telling you this stuff:
@@NAME@@ has a problem with littering. These litterers are called "tossers" by the New South Wales police. Do you know how the word "tossers" got its name?
Adelaide was the world's hottest capital city on Christmas 2017. Quick, better check all the air conditioners, before December comes
South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales are fighting over who should get the limited amount of water in the Murray River. Therefore, we desperately need to start negotiations with New York state, the federal government, Canada and Ontario about who should get the finate amount of water from Niagara Falls
Greece and Cyprus are fighting for no recognitition for Northern Cyprus. Take notes on what they're doing before the Canadian invasion of Alaska
Athen's Olympic stadiums are being completely unused and are more or less abandoned. We should never host the Olympics again!

I'm going to reply to you in the same fashion:

We need to rename St. Petersburg, Florida! There was a metro attack in St. Petersburg, Russia, and we don't want any Floridans to die! (Point: Names are not exclusive to one particular place. Have you heard of Venice, California?)

Yes, I know mate, we have a Newcastle in New South Wales and a Liverpool in Sydney. There's an Athens in Greece and the United States, there's an Olympus in Greece and America. But my point still stands
Do whatever you want. I'm done arguing this with you!

[USS Monitor]

1. Option 1, how did gerrymandering get that name? You state that it's important, but don't state how. I hadn't even heard of it until I saw this issue

[list=1][*]the Voting Rights Act in 1965

What?

The word "gerrymander" was invented in 1812, and it's named after Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering#Etymology

[*]There are I think currently twelve options, so I think that it's inherently wrong. I submitted a 17-option issue once; I haven't received a telegram on it or any of the other options that I submitted.

It's not a good idea to have that many options. It just means some would have to get cut during the editing process, and it increases the risk of the issue being rejected outright because the editors didn't want to deal with the surplus options.

3 to 5 is a good number for most topics. Some issues do have more than 5, but 17 is definitely too many.

I was going to mention West Virginia and the dead brontosaurs's head and neck that are currently sticking out of its east side, but I think that Maryland looks even more gerrymandered in terms of state borders. However, West Virginia is second.[*]Name a province that looks even more gerrymandered than Maryland, and I'll happily replace Maryland with its name.

And once again, Maryland ISN'T gerrymandered, and you're not supposed to be using such specific real-world references.

I don't care what shape it is on the map. It's not gerrymandered. The Mason-Dixon Line is straight (except for a couple of right-angle corners), the Chesapeake shoreline is a natural geographic feature, DC is square, and the Virginia border follows the Potomac River. Specifically, the state line is the southern bank of the Potomac, so the river itself and islands in it belong to Maryland. None of these things is a result of gerrymandering. Gerrymandering specifically refers to borders that are drawn based on demographics and controlling the outcome of elections, not borders based on geographic features.

Quite aside from that, you're not supposed to use such distinctive RL names. Australian Republic is trying to help with his comments about the issue being too American, and I think you should listen to him more than you are doing.

It's OK to draw inspiration from American history and politics, but you shouldn't make the references so obvious. The other districting issue is derived from British history, and you need to make yours different, so some well-handled American references might work to your benefit. It just needs to be a lot more subtle than dropping in the names of US states. I actually think references to Governor Gerry are OK if you change his first name and the name of the state. For example, "Hillsbury Governor @@RANDOMFIRSTNAME@@ Gerry" would be acceptable to put in an issue.

[Mississippabama]

[list=1][*]the Voting Rights Act in 1965

What?

The word "gerrymander" was invented in 1812, and it's named after Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerrymandering#Etymology

I got the numbering messed up. Number one is the answer to number two, number two is the answer to number three, and number eight is the answer to number nine.

[*]There are I think currently twelve options, so I think that it's inherently long. I submitted a 17-option issue once; I haven't received a telegram on it or any of the other options that I submitted.

It's not a good idea to have that many options. It just means some would have to get cut during the editing process, and it increases the risk of the issue being rejected outright because the editors didn't want to deal with the surplus options.

I hope that I'll still be able to at least switch all nuclear power to thorium. (That was option fifteen. Option fourteen was sticking with uranium nuclear power.)

3 to 5 is a good number for most topics. Some issues do have more than 5, but 17 is definitely too many.

How about I get rid of 3, 4, 6, and 8?

I was going to mention West Virginia and the dead brontosaurs's head and neck that are currently sticking out of its east side, but I think that Maryland looks even more gerrymandered in terms of state borders. However, West Virginia is second.[*]Name a province that looks even more gerrymandered than Maryland, and I'll happily replace Maryland with its name.

And once again, Maryland ISN'T gerrymandered, and you're not supposed to be using such specific real-world references.

I don't care what shape it is on the map. It's not gerrymandered. The Mason-Dixon Line is straight (except for a couple of right-angle corners), the Chesapeake shoreline is a natural geographic feature, DC is square, and the Virginia border follows the Potomac River. Specifically, the state line is the southern bank of the Potomac, so the river itself and islands in it belong to Maryland. None of these things is a result of gerrymandering. Gerrymandering specifically refers to borders that are drawn based on demographics and controlling the outcome of elections, not borders based on geographic features.

Quite aside from that, you're not supposed to use such distinctive RL names. Australian Republic is trying to help with his comments about the issue being too American, and I think you should listen to him more than you are doing.

It's OK to draw inspiration from American history and politics, but you shouldn't make the references so obvious. The other districting issue is derived from British history, and you need to make yours different, so some well-handled American references might work to your benefit. It just needs to be a lot more subtle than dropping in the names of US states. I actually think references to Governor Gerry are OK if you change his first name and the name of the state. For example, "Hillsbury Governor @@RANDOMFIRSTNAME@@ Gerry" would be acceptable to put in an issue.

Okay, so here's what I have now:








Following a court ruling that district mapmaker Arty San grew district lines in one of @NAME@'s provinces to specifically benefit his party in the upcoming provincial election, several citizens have been complaining about how to deal with gerrymandering in the future.

1. "It is an outrage," decries political freedom activist @RANDOMNAME@, who is wearing a T-shirt that says Voting Rights for All! "To see that the opposition party has been unfairly suppressed in the provincial congress. Just look at the district lines! District number five looks like a giraffe! District number one looks like an octopus! Given how gerrymandering came to be named gerrymandering in the first place, we might as well rename it sanopussing!"
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, the now more than twenty synonyms for gerrymandering now include sanopussing, smithvipering, and shawcrowing.

2. "While I agree that Arty San must be punished, I don't think that the existing punishments are harsh enough. In general, if someone abuses our system of democracy is this or any other way, they need their right to use it taken any so they can't abuse it again. That's right: Arty San must not be allowed to vote in any @DENONYM@ election, federal or local, for the rest of his life. Also, I think that punishments in @NAME@ are too lax in general. For example, the Tertiary Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs refusal to assist in the construction of a diplomatic treaty that would have prevented the @RANDOMDENONYMADJECTIVE@ War directly led to the death of thousands of innocent @RANDOM DENONYM ADJECTIVE@ civilians. We've tried and convicted several generals for their war crimes, but we need to execute the Tertiary Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for a thousand counts of manslaughter, the civilian deaths in the war that is his fault. You should also free my friend from his sentence after he was convicted of trying to kill the Tertiary Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs before Tertiary Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs caused the war to happen because the only reason that my friend tried to kill him was because he knew that that would happen, and he was trying to prevent the civilians' deaths."
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, the trolley dilemma is used as precedent in the verdict of over ninety percent of @DENONYMADJECTIVE@ court cases.

3. "Shouldn't we let the voters decide?" asks @RANDOMNAME@, the leader of a country that is renowned for its highly extensive political freedom that is visiting your country on a diplomatic region. "Have voters submit what they want their district's boundaries to be, and then two neighborhoods will be in the same district if and only if the majority of residents in each neighborhood voted to include the other neighborhood in their district. Because it was voted on by the people in general, it has to be fair."
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, poor, crime-ridden districts have no representative because not enough neighborhoods voted to be a part of their district to justify even creating a district for them.

4. "You know, we could use this case as a convenient excuse to get rid of those pesky provincial governments," mentions your brother @RANDOMFIRSTNAMEMALE@. "'States' rights! Provinces' rights!' All they do is take away power from you. By abolishing all governments except the federal government, you'd have more power. Of course, you'd still have to split it with the legislative and judicial branches, but you wouldn't have to contest with the governors for power anymore."
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, mayors and governors are now out of jobs.

5. "Here's an idea," begins your Minister of Creative Doodles, while scribbling over a laminated map of @NAME@'s provincial borders with a black Sharpie, "how interesting would, say, a district shapes like...say...the @DEMONYMADJECTIVE@ lesser-antennaed slug, found at over half of @NAME@'s zoos, be? Let me just finish this section..." your minister begins scribbling furiously, somehow coating herself in a fine layer of black Sharpie ink, and her glasses fall off before she hands the map to you. "Done!" she exclaims. "Now visitors can go horseback-riding, be devoured by a dragon, witness a bull stampede, see kangaroos kick-box, and more, all from up close. Tourism will soar; we'll have attract more visitors than Jurassic Park: Witness the Dead Brontosaur's Head and Neck that are Currently Sticking out of the East Side of West Virginia!"
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, district mapmakers are paid on how much gerrymandering-tourism their provinces receive under their maps.

6. "I personally don't care what happens to the gerrymanders," says @RANDOMNAME@ "as long as the maps are redrawn by unbiased courts to be fair. Otherwise, gerrymanderers would always their their way, wouldn't they?"
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, bribing judges is the new gerrymandering.

7. "That's not enough!" claims John Whitmire. "When they," pointing to his colleges of the opposite party "gerrymander, they always get caught, but by then, it's already over halfway to the next census! Even though the maps that they draw are replaced with fair maps, they've already rigged several elections! Lengthy court proceedings or not, district maps need to be approved by courts before they go into effect in the first place!"
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, the current district maps in the province of Texas are based on censuses taken in 1980.

8. "Why's he pointing the finger at us?" asks Jane Nelson. "The real problem with gerrymandering is that everyone makes too big of a deal about it. So we've gerrymandered Texas year after year. Their party is doing the same with Maryland. I wonder how much money they paid Arty San.... Anyway, not does gerrymandering by different parties all cancel out in the end, but populations change. Gerrymandering, contrary to what some people say, is not a threat to our democracy.
Effect: Following new legislation in @NAME@, @NAME@'s government no longer does anything to prevent gerrymandering.

[Tinhampton]

My recommended changes. You don't have to take them on, but please do consider them. Additions and swaps in green, recommendations in blue.

Following a court ruling that district mapmaker Arty San grew district lines in one of @@NAME@@'s provinces to specifically benefit his party in the upcoming provincial election, several citizens have been complaining about how to deal with gerrymandering in the future.

1. "It is an outrage," decries political freedom activist @@RANDOMNAME@@, who is wearing a T-shirt that says Voting Rights for All!, "to see that the opposition party has been unfairly suppressed in the provincial congress. Just look at the district lines! District number five looks like a giraffe! District number one looks like an octopus! Given how gerrymandering came to be named gerrymandering in the first place, we might as well rename it sanopussing!"
Effect: the @@CAPITAL@@ @@DEMONYMNOUN@@ Dictionary lists over twenty synonyms for gerrymandering

You don't need "Following new legislation in @NAME@" at the start of every effect line. And also, it's two @'s either side, not one.

2. "While I agree that Arty San must be punished," states one of your less loyal secretaries, "I don't think that the existing punishments are harsh enough. In general, if someone abuses our system of democracy is this or any other way, they need their right to use it taken any so they can't abuse it again. That's right: Arty San must not be allowed to vote in any @@DENONYM@@ election, federal or local, for the rest of his life. Also, I think that punishments in @@NAME@@ are too lax in general. Take, for example, the Tertiary Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs' refusal to assist in the drafting of a diplomatic treaty that would have prevented the *insert NPC nation here* War that directly led to the death of thousands of innocent NPC @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ civilians!" Whilst your security guards drag him out, he carries on talking about how the minister should be executed, but his wannabe assassin should be freed. Regardless, the message to ban Mr San from voting, and tighten punishments in general, should have been clear.
Effect: the trolley dilemma is officially considered precedent in @@DENONYMADJECTIVE@@ courts

3. "Shouldn't we let the voters decide?" asks @@RANDOMNAME@@, the leader of a country that is renowned for its highly extensive political freedom that is visiting your country on a diplomatic region. "Have voters submit what they want their district's boundaries to be, and then two neighborhoods will be in the same district if and only if the majority of residents in each neighborhood voted to include the other neighborhood in their district. Because it was voted on by the people in general, it has to be fair."
Effect: many disadvantaged neighbourhoods often have no representatives due to the opposition of the surrounding area

4. "You know, we could use this case as a convenient excuse to get rid of those pesky provincial governments," mentions your brother @@RANDOMFIRSTNAMEMALE@@. "'States' rights! Provinces' rights!' All they do is take away power from you. By abolishing all governments except the federal government, you'd have more power. Of course, you'd still have to split it with the legislative and judicial branches, but you wouldn't have to contest with the governors for power anymore."
Effect: mayors and governors are now out of jobs

5. "Here's an idea," begins your Minister of Creative Doodles, while scribbling over a laminated map of @@NAME@@'s provincial borders with a black Sharpie, "how interesting would, say, a district shaped like...say...the @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ lesser-antennaed slug, found at over half of @@NAME@@'s zoos, be? Let me just finish this section..." your minister begins scribbling furiously, somehow coating herself in a fine layer of black Sharpie ink, and her glasses fall off before she hands the map to you. "Done!" she exclaims. "Now visitors can go horseback-riding, be devoured by a dragon, witness a bull stampede, see kangaroos kick-box, and more, all from up close. Tourism will soar; we'll have attract more visitors than Jurassic Park: Witness the Dead Brontosaur's Head and Neck that are Currently Sticking out of the East Side of West Virginia!" Consider steering clear of RW references here.
Effect: "gerrymandering tourism" is bringing in valuable money for both the state and audacious district mapmakers

6. "I personally don't care what happens to the gerrymanders," says @@RANDOMNAME@@, "as long as the maps are redrawn by unbiased courts to be fair. Otherwise, gerrymanderers would always have their way, wouldn't they?"
Effect: bribing judges is the new gerrymandering.

Just what exactly is the correlation here? This option should also be made longer.

7. "That's not enough!" claims John Whitmire. What is your justification for a fixed name here? "When they gerrymander," pointing to his collages of the opposite party, "they always get caught, but by then, it's already over halfway to the next census! Even though the maps that they draw are replaced with fair maps, they've already rigged several elections! Lengthy court proceedings or not, district maps need to be approved by courts before they go into effect in the first place!"
Effect: the current district maps in the province of Texas are based on censuses taken in 1980.

Again, consider avoiding RW references. And also, what about those nations that roleplay before 1980, or had their last census taken then? I would personally consider something like
most provincial district maps are based off 40-year-old censuses due to ongoing court disputes

8. "Why's he pointing the finger at us?" asks Jane Nelson. Again, why do you believe that this option needs a fixed-name speaker? "The real problem with gerrymandering is that everyone makes too big of a deal about it. So we've gerrymandered Texas year after year. Their party is doing the same with Maryland. I wonder how much money they paid Arty San.... Anyway, not does gerrymandering by different parties all cancel out in the end, but populations change. Gerrymandering, contrary to what some people say, is not a threat to our democracy."
Effect: @@NAME@@'s government passively tolerates gerrymandering

Again, consider changing your province names to things that aren't RW state names.

[Mississippabama]

My recommended changes. You don't have to take them on, but please do consider them. Additions and swaps in green, recommendations in blue.

Following a court ruling that district mapmaker Arty San grew district lines in one of @@NAME@@'s provinces to specifically benefit his party in the upcoming provincial election, several citizens have been complaining about how to deal with gerrymandering in the future.

1. "It is an outrage," decries political freedom activist @@RANDOMNAME@@, who is wearing a T-shirt that says Voting Rights for All!, "to see that the opposition party has been unfairly suppressed in the provincial congress. Just look at the district lines! District number five looks like a giraffe! District number one looks like an octopus! Given how gerrymandering came to be named gerrymandering in the first place, we might as well rename it sanopussing!"
Effect: the @@CAPITAL@@ @@DEMONYMNOUN@@ Dictionary lists over twenty synonyms for gerrymandering

You don't need "Following new legislation in @NAME@" at the start of every effect line. And also, it's two @'s either side, not one.

2. "While I agree that Arty San must be punished," states one of your less loyal secretaries, "I don't think that the existing punishments are harsh enough. In general, if someone abuses our system of democracy is this or any other way, they need their right to use it taken any so they can't abuse it again. That's right: Arty San must not be allowed to vote in any @@DENONYM@@ election, federal or local, for the rest of his life. Also, I think that punishments in @@NAME@@ are too lax in general. Take, for example, the Tertiary Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs' refusal to assist in the drafting of a diplomatic treaty that would have prevented the *insert NPC nation here* War that directly led to the death of thousands of innocent NPC @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ civilians!" Whilst your security guards drag him out, he carries on talking about how the minister should be executed, but his wannabe assassin should be freed. Regardless, the message to ban Mr San from voting, and tighten punishments in general, should have been clear.
Effect: the trolley dilemma is officially considered precedent in @@DENONYMADJECTIVE@@ courts

3. "Shouldn't we let the voters decide?" asks @@RANDOMNAME@@, the leader of a country that is renowned for its highly extensive political freedom that is visiting your country on a diplomatic region. "Have voters submit what they want their district's boundaries to be, and then two neighborhoods will be in the same district if and only if the majority of residents in each neighborhood voted to include the other neighborhood in their district. Because it was voted on by the people in general, it has to be fair."
Effect: many disadvantaged neighbourhoods often have no representatives due to the opposition of the surrounding area

4. "You know, we could use this case as a convenient excuse to get rid of those pesky provincial governments," mentions your brother @@RANDOMFIRSTNAMEMALE@@. "'States' rights! Provinces' rights!' All they do is take away power from you. By abolishing all governments except the federal government, you'd have more power. Of course, you'd still have to split it with the legislative and judicial branches, but you wouldn't have to contest with the governors for power anymore."
Effect: mayors and governors are now out of jobs

5. "Here's an idea," begins your Minister of Creative Doodles, while scribbling over a laminated map of @@NAME@@'s provincial borders with a black Sharpie, "how interesting would, say, a district shaped like...say...the @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ lesser-antennaed slug, found at over half of @@NAME@@'s zoos, be? Let me just finish this section..." your minister begins scribbling furiously, somehow coating herself in a fine layer of black Sharpie ink, and her glasses fall off before she hands the map to you. "Done!" she exclaims. "Now visitors can go horseback-riding, be devoured by a dragon, witness a bull stampede, see kangaroos kick-box, and more, all from up close. Tourism will soar; we'll have attract more visitors than Jurassic Park: Witness the Dead Brontosaur's Head and Neck that are Currently Sticking out of the East Side of West Virginia!" Consider steering clear of RW references here.
Effect: "gerrymandering tourism" is bringing in valuable money for both the state and audacious district mapmakers

6. "I personally don't care what happens to the gerrymanders," says @@RANDOMNAME@@, "as long as the maps are redrawn by unbiased courts to be fair. Otherwise, gerrymanderers would always have their way, wouldn't they?"
Effect: bribing judges is the new gerrymandering.

Just what exactly is the correlation here? This option should also be made longer.

7. "That's not enough!" claims John Whitmire. What is your justification for a fixed name here? "When they gerrymander," pointing to his collages of the opposite party, "they always get caught, but by then, it's already over halfway to the next census! Even though the maps that they draw are replaced with fair maps, they've already rigged several elections! Lengthy court proceedings or not, district maps need to be approved by courts before they go into effect in the first place!"
Effect: the current district maps in the province of Texas are based on censuses taken in 1980.

Again, consider avoiding RW references. And also, what about those nations that roleplay before 1980, or had their last census taken then? I would personally consider something like
most provincial district maps are based off 40-year-old censuses due to ongoing court disputes

8. "Why's he pointing the finger at us?" asks Jane Nelson. Again, why do you believe that this option needs a fixed-name speaker? "The real problem with gerrymandering is that everyone makes too big of a deal about it. So we've gerrymandered Texas year after year. Their party is doing the same with Maryland. I wonder how much money they paid Arty San.... Anyway, not does gerrymandering by different parties all cancel out in the end, but populations change. Gerrymandering, contrary to what some people say, is not a threat to our democracy."
Effect: @@NAME@@'s government passively tolerates gerrymandering

Again, consider changing your province names to things that aren't RW state names.

That's mostly good. The reason that I felt that it was okay to mention West Virginia is because I did nothing to imply that it was part of the nation, and instead, did just the opposite. Also, for numbers five and six, I put what I did in the effects to explain why choosing number five typically makes political freedom increase more than choosing number six.

I typically only use one @ to remind myself that it's just a draft, and I put in the "Following new legislation in @NAME@," part in case I want to play with it, which I did for two options in the 17-option issue that I submitted last week.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

How about I get rid of 3, 4, 6, and 8?

Good start. Like Monitor says, try and get it down to 3 or 4 options for an issue like this.

[Australian rePublic]

I dpn't see the point in option 1. I mean, you can come up witj a million different names for this thing. Congragulations,what have you changed?