# What would a completely NON-gerrymandered House of Representatives look like?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-completely-non-gerrymandered-house-of-representatives-look-like/991766>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 18, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-completely-non-gerrymandered-house-of-representatives-look-like/991766 "2023-10-18T21:23:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-completely-non-gerrymandered-house-of-representatives-look-like/991766/41 "2023-10-22T11:42:42Z")

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> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> SES homogenous, SES diverse

“SES”?

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**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-completely-non-gerrymandered-house-of-representatives-look-like/991766/42 "2023-10-22T12:58:27Z")

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Socio-economic status. It’s a standard abbreviation in economics and the social sciences. And to some extend in political science too. Sorry to spring that on you unexplained.

It’s the polite way to say rich vs poor, black vs brown vs white, unemployed class vs working class vs professional / executive class vs investor class vs retired. etc.

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-completely-non-gerrymandered-house-of-representatives-look-like/991766/43 "2023-10-22T16:04:50Z")

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> [@Saint\_Cad](#):
>
> Unaffilated do not get to vote and not crossing parties. If you want to vote Democrat you need to be a registered Democrat.

And how hard is it to register as a member of a party, and are there any other implications of party membership? If which primary you vote in is the only effect of party membership, then folks will just register for whichever party they want to vote in the primaries for.

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**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\
**Post date:** [October 22, 2023, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-a-completely-non-gerrymandered-house-of-representatives-look-like/991766/44 "2023-10-22T16:33:40Z")

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> [@Chronos](#):
>
> If which primary you vote in is the only effect of party membership, then folks will just register for whichever party they want to vote in the primaries for.

Well, yeah. That’s the point. Party affiliation is also for when you want to run for a partisan office.

> [@Chronos](#):
>
> And how hard is it to register as a member of a party,

That’s up to your state so YMMV. The party system would work just like it works now with the only difference (in some states) is that you cannot cross over for the primary because why should Dems be voting for Pub representatives and vice-versa. Unaffiliates do no get a vote in the primary because if you want to choose who runs in a party, you should be a member of that party.

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