...the conspiracy to eliminate wards and precincts has been canceled? Or is the lack of evidence for the conspiracy actually even more convincing evidence that the conspiracy is real?

This plan would not eliminate wards or precincts in Knox County, as they are considered to be vital components in the political process and are included in the legal descriptions of real property.

Not exactly:

(link...)

Clearly some wish to interpret the Baker Center report as they choose.

Simple question, does convenience voting eliminate traditional Election Day?

Or will that be parsed also? Probably.

Each day is Election Day with convenience voting and convenience voting is the end of traditional voting and our traditional Election Day. It really is something the voters should decide, not City Council. It is a very bad idea with too many unintended consequences.

It might be better to say convenience voting is the effective end of precincts and wards just so as to not waste time with the literal interpretation of the word parsers. Seems like there is a Tom McAdams under every rock around here.

This reminds me a lot of Charter Amendment 3 that just squeaked by with a 1.5% margin of victory. We keep having to relearn what "unintended consequences" are.

Now that the people of Sequoyah Hills have learned they will be in the 9th District, they are mad as hell. The people in the 9th District are mad as hell. The people in North Farragut have learned they will be in the 6th District, they are mad as hell. No word on what the people in Karns think but they might be laughing their asses off at the Farragut folk.

Word is the people in Sequoyah Hills and Farragut want Charter Amendment 3 dead. This is pretty funny considering they voted it in. Some advice, think before you vote.

Convenience voting is another bad idea that should be the decision of the voters. But they wouldn't dare let that happen. The Knox County Republican Party has voted almost unanimously against convenience voting. Not much reporting about that.

Be sure to tune in Monday to the County Commission meeting as the Briggs coup makes its last stand.

Only in Knox County.

I don't think people really thought through the consequences of these amendments and that's why I bailed. For me, it wasn't that some of the ideas didn't have merit, it was the way they were being pushed through without proper consideration just to do it in time for the election, and my concerns about some of the funding and people involved.

I think many people who voted for Amendment 3 are gonna be wailing when they see the consequences.

We passed the wrong amendment.

Behold the epic failure of the Charter Amendment 3.

This is what you need to see.

(link...)

Begin the Gerrymandering Wars.

There may not be enough time to make the new District Map because no matter how you slice the pie someone gets upset. The people of Farragut have cast the first blow. Sequoyah Hills will be next. And it will never end.

How about that Baker Center? They did a bang up job didn't they? Good with statistics not so good with common sense.

But a few people warned this would happen. It must be satisfying for them.

The highlight of this YouTube is where Commissioner Briggs invites anarchy by saying anyone can draw up the new District maps.

I sense a disturbance in the farce. This will dwarf Black Wednesday in both entertainment value and wasted time.

The sad part is we the taxpayers get to pay for each lawsuit. Hopefully Chancellor Moyers will end this for the benefit of all of us. He has the authority to make this go away.

Let's agree, no more combined Charter Amendments. Ever.

Deal?

Most people, nay, most eligible voters live life quite perfectly happy without even paying any attention to what we discuss about local politics here, or anywhere else for that matter.

And as long as the trash is picked up, the schools function, and the police protect, I doubt they're going to care or act.

It's like the human body. I don't have to know how every cell functions or fails to function, as long as it pretty much works. That's how most voters operate.

That may outrage some,and satisfy others, but it really doesn't matter, because it's just what we do.

A tin foil hat really serves no purpose unless it has a grounding strap.

Visit us at:

The Home

People like things with shins?

As has been pointed out numerous times, the only way Charter Amendment 3 affects redisctricting is that it is required earlier than what was anticipated.

There will be 9 districts, not 11. The 5th district will be divided somehow. That probably would have happened two years from now as well.

There are plenty of ways to look at dividing 5 without dividing the town of Farragut. What seems mathematically impossible is keep Cedar Bluff and Farragut in the same district.

Sequoyah Hill is on the far eastern edge of a district that runs all the way to Bluegrass. Its going to be interesting to see what happens to that whole district. Putting 24-Q into the 9th doesn't make much sense. It seems to me that starting in the 9th and moving towards the 8th would create a more contiguous district. However, I'm not on the committe, nor do I have the psychic abilities of #9.

All of this conjecture with no basis in fact only serves to purposefully piss people off. We'll all have plenty of time to review the committee's actual proposals soon enough.

As I understand it from what David Buuck has filed, there are at least two issues related to redistricting here. First argument is that by creating two at-large countywide commissioners, you are actually creating an additional "superdistrict" that covers the entire county. The two countywide commissioners will, in effect, be representing more voters than the other nine districts, a probable violation of federal election law.

The city has two at-large citywide council members, but with one very important difference: all voters can vote for all council members in every district. Therefore, no one councilperson has any more "voter power" than any other councilperson, even the "at large" representatives.

The second issue is related to the first. By creating two additional commissioners who are countywide, you are denying effective minority representation by diluting their votes.

The redistricting issue itself (whether caused by Charter Amendment 3 or by the new census) is going to be very challenging and problematic as they try to maintain minority representation for a population that has really spread out through the county.

I'm still trying to figure out how convenience voting got conflated with redistricting. Oh, wait...

Anyway, too bad for convenience voting. For some reason (oh, wait...) what is basically a good idea is getting tarnished by a coincidental and completely unrelated controversy.