One has to ask if a group of people have to “cheat” to win an election, what’s wrong with their party’s platform or core values? If they have to gerrymander to an extreme, that says a lot about them and the direction of ultra-conservative views. If their constituents agreed, they would not have to succumb to the extremes our Board of Supervisors’ majority has adopted and perpetrated upon the very people they took an oath to represent.
What our Board of Supervisors’ majority has accomplished is to manipulate the boundaries of (an electoral constituency) to favor one party—theirs. In representative democracies, gerrymandering refers to political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the intent of creating undue advantage for a party. Is it legal? Yes, or in the case of San Luis Obispo County — questionable, the courts will decide. Is it moral? No!
Their primary goals are to maximize the effect of their supporters’ votes and to minimize or eliminate entirely the effect of opponents’ views and votes.
If their views do not align with the majority of voters; if they cannot win on their own virtues, values, ideas and track record, then maybe it is time for them to re-evaluate them.
Pandora Nash-Karner
Los Osos