Ive seen multiple comments suggesting that legislatures should be redrawn and instead of being done by population it should be weighted in favor of rural communities. For example in my state of New York, Hamilton County (the least populous county) should have more representation than someone in the Bronx.
This was the case in many state legislatures prior to a Supreme Court decision entitled Reynolds V Sims in 1964 which established one man one vote and drawing state legislatures to favor rural communities over urban areas was unconstitutional and that electoral districts must be roughly equal in population. Chief Justice Earl Warren famously wrote “Legislators represent people, not trees or acres. Legislators are elected by voters, not farms or cities or economic interests."
I have even heard some suggest that statewide elections should be determined not by how many votes a candidate receives but how many counties they carry. How that is even remotely fair or democratic is beyond me.
The concept of weighted votes is why I oppose the Electoral College as it makes land area count more than raw votes.
However this is not just a United States issue it could certainly be applied to other countries as well. Canada for example. The current government won its majority by sweeping urban areas.
The concept of one man one vote is very important in any democracy. No person's vote should count more than someone else's because of where they reside.
What's your take NSG?
