Howell or Rorschach?
By Shaun Kenney | Monday, April 4th, 2011 | Politics
Oh no they didn’t.
Oh yes… they did.
Each of the 30 images you are about to see could be either:
A State Senate District in the Virginia redistricting plan sponsored by Privileges and Elections Committee Chairman Janet D. Howell (D-Fairfax)
OR
An inkblot from a Rorschach Test
Sadly, I only got 19 correct:
You need to work on your skills. You’ve reached the Miller Level. Like Senator John C. Miller (D-Newport News), you’d probably better let your friends do the heavy lifting for you. That way, you won’t have to explain that while your own district looks strange, the one beside yours stretches from Suffolk on the North Carolina border to Northumberland on the Maryland border — all to ensure you might be able to win reelection. But don’t worry too much. You can promise to introduce the winning maps from the student redistricting competition because you know you’ll never actually have to vote on them!
Truly, there are some horrifically designed districts in this bunch. Some I even gave the benefit of the doubt — “C’mon, there’s no way in hell they could have the mental density to draw a district like that!” — and turned out to be very disappointed in the end.
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About the author
Shaun Kenney is the Chairman of the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors, former Communications Director for the Republican Party of Virginia, and an active blogger since 2002. Shaun lives in Thomas Jefferson's backyard with his wife, six children, and a modest attempt at a farm in Kents Store, Virginia.
Comments
5 Responses to "Howell or Rorschach?"
A very compelling demonstration of just how outrageous the Howell Senate plan is.
BTW, I scored 25 out of 30 by defaulting to the Howell choice whenever the figure didn’t look contiguously drawn. Pretty damning evidence, if you ask me.
Wow. HisRoc reached Barker level. That is an achievement of which to be proud!
Not really, when you consider that I cheated by assuming the worst whenever I saw a gerrymandered shape. Pretty sad.
I actually got them all. I used to work at a voter registration office. I recognize gerrymandering when I see it.
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