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Congressional District Confusion in Silver Spring
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Silver Spring Takoma
IT'S PRETTY EASY to figure out who represents the District's disenfranchised voters on Capitol Hill — non-voting Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (or, perhaps Texas Republican Louie Gohmert). For residents in Silver Spring and Takoma Park, however, the congressional borders are drawn so oddly that representation is anybody's guess.
The map at right, though, has the answers. The three members of the Maryland delegation that represent the area are Steny Hoyer (in blue), Chris Van Hollen (in red) and Albert Wynn (in green). It's easy enough to find your street on there, right?
A recent comment at Silver Spring Penguin addresses the confusion:
I voted in the wrong district last year (whoops) because who would have thought moving from Georgian Towers to Twin Towers would change your congressional district!!?? I mean, come on! I realize "Silver Spring" and "Downtown Silver Spring" are [unincorporated] areas ... names with no legal bearing — but you'd think these things would follow SOME sort of logical path! And yes, I realize the reason is that the partisans (uhm.. that'd be the entire [C]ongress) somehow have the authority to move the lines back and forth all day long until they get the balance of power they're looking for — in the process, effectively making some people's votes more or less significant ... but that shouldn't bother us, we're not a democracy or anything.So how exactly can you figure who represents you in Congress, or, for that matter, in Annapolis? Just use this mapping tool. It has overlays that show district boundaries and an address lookup feature so you can find where your home fits in the mix.
» RELATED: "The Race to Gerrymander" [Washington Monthly]
Posted By Michael Grass at 3:43 PM on November 1, 2007
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