Reply #36: Not true

[karynnj]

It is quite possible for more than 51% to vote for a party and for it to have fewer seats. To make it easier to show assume 5 districts - all having the same number of people who actually vote (to simplify the math).

district 1 - 51% R
district 2 - 51% R
district 3 - 51% R
district 4 - 51% R
district 5 - 90% D

Bacause we assumed equal number of voters, the percents over the 5 districts are R =(.51*4 + .1)/5*100 = 42.8% D= (.49*4 +.9)/5*100 = 57.2%

So you see, because the Republicans very eficiently gerrymandered the 5 districts, they get 4 of the 5 seats with 42.8% of the vote. The reason is that most of the Democratic strength is wasted in the the district that is 90% Democratic.

These numbers are of course, fictious and represent no known state,