Redistricting, a Bipartisan Sport

By Earl Blumenauer and Jim Leach (NYT)
Late Edition - Final, Section A, Page 23, Column , 1041 words

ABSTRACT - Op-Ed article by Rep Earl Blumenauer, Democrat, and Rep Jim Leach, Republican, says health of American democracy hinges on how state officials approach issue of redistricting; says few partisans should not be allowed to manipulate landscape of state and national politics by legislative line-drawing, but that is exactly what has happened; describes so-called gerrymandering in several states; says result is House that is both more liberal and more conservative than country at large; says independent redistricting commissions, already used in several states, offer best hope for taking partisanship out of redistricting process; diagram (M) Congressional redistricting is about as interesting as someone else's genealogy. But occasionally the subject produces headlines, as it did two months ago when Democratic members of the Texas Legislature fled to Oklahoma to avoid creating a quorum to address the issue. Their desperate maneuver failed; Republican leaders have convened a special session on redistricting and the State Legislature will continue to debate the issue today.

Despite the public perception that the drawing of legislative maps is an insider's game of no particular relevance, the health of American democracy hinges on how state officials approach the issue. If competitive elections matter -- and to much of the world they are what America stands for -- then redistricting also matters.