COALITION AIMS TO PRESSURE POLITICIANS: PUT PEOPLE AHEAD OF POLITICAL PARTIES

More than 40 people in the meeting room of the Cliffdale Regional Branch library attended a seminar on Tuesday on how lawmakers use election laws to put their interests ahead of the voters. The session covered gerrymandering, or the practice whereby officials design Congressional and state legislative districts with strange shapes - shapes designed to clump together groups of partisan voters in order to keep the opposing political party from winning a majority of the seats. In North Carolina, Congressional districts were designed in 2011 by the Republicancontrolled legislature to elect 10 Republicans and three Democrats. They had been split 6-7 in favor of the Democrats. In 2012’s elections, more than half the voters selected Democratic candidates in the revised districts, but nine of the 13 seats were won by Republicans.

TWO OF TRUMP’S CHILDREN CAN’T VOTE IN NEW YORK PRIMARY

NEW YORK: Two of Donald Trump’s children failed to register in time, so won’t be able to vote for him during next week’s New York primary, the Republican frontrunner said on Monday ( Tuesday in Manila). Ivanka, 34, and Eric, 32, were “unaware of the rules and... they didn’t register in time,” Trump told US Fox News television. “They feel very, very guilty,” he added. “I think they have to register a year in advance and they didn’t. So Eric and Ivanka, I guess, won’t be voting,” he said, joking that he would cut their allowances. New Yorkers had to register their party affiliation by October 9 last year in order to vote in the April 19 Democratic and Republican primaries.