Recalling the Voters

There's a good summary by NDOL of the Texas redistricting debacle. Snippet:

DLC | New Dem Daily | October 15, 2003 Reverse Recall in Texas California Republicans recently bankrolled an effort that succeeded in convincing voters to recall Democratic Gov. Gray Davis. But Texas Republicans did something very different over the weekend: In an effort to remove up to eight Democratic members of Congress, they recalled voters. They supplied fresh evidence that the modern science of gerrymandering has made Congressional and state legislative redistricting an exercise in politicians choosing voters, rather than the other way around. Not content with the outcome of the redistricting that sent 17 Democrats and 15 Republicans to Congress in the 2002 elections, the Republicans led by U.S. House GOP Leader Tom DeLay took advantage of the majority they gained in the state legislature in 2002 to launch a second redistricting. This second redistricting -- a re-redistricting -- is raw power politics at its worst. The new districts brand and corral voters in crazy-quilt districts with big GOP majorities and de facto racial and ethnic segregation. These chastised Texas voters are now expected to produce an overwhelmingly Republican congressional Delegation.