This useful editorial from USA Today summarizes the case for gerrymandering reform.
The cliche is true: politicians increasingly choose their voters rather than the other way around, via clever redistricting made possible by sophisticated demographic software. This is why, if you look at an outline map of various Congressional districts, you will see so many that are oddly shaped because they have been drawn to capture voters from one party at the expense of voters in the other. It is why, also, so few seats in the House of Representatives are truly competitive, a disgraceful situation that flies directly in the face of the intentions of the Founding Fathers.
Democrats and Republicans collude in gerrymandering, with both parties making sure they have their share of safe districts.
Of course this is an old story: after all, Elbridge Gerry, for whom the practice of dodgy districting was named, was a signer of the Constitution and James Madison’s vice president. But that it is an old story does not make it any less egregious.
It may be too much to hope that real reform will attend the national redistricting that will follow the 2010 census. But the matter deserves greater attention and public discussion, perhaps with an eye to enacting reform legislation with the goal of changing the redistricting process in 2020. It would be worth the wait.
Tags: Politics