OUR TURN; Redistricting fix urgently needed

 

EDITORIAL

August 12, 2009

Partisanship in Washington once again is marring debate over crucial issues that affect every American.

Party leaders - instead of the voters back home - call the shots for far too many lawmakers. One way to reduce excessive partisanship in the U.S. House would be to draw congressional districts in a non-partisan fashion.

Districts designed to elect a member of one political party or another too often produce extremist members of Congress who represent their party's interests. With the 2010 Census looming, little time remains to reform the redistricting process before another atrocious round of power-grabbing begins, with the party in control snaring as many congressional seats as mathematically possible in most states.

Instead of considering community interests, the lawmakers who redraw congressional district lines go to bizarre lengths to preserve their party's advantages. "Elected officials should not choose their voters; voters should choose their elected officials," J. Gerald Hebert, head of Americans for Redistricting Reform, wrote in a recent statement urging support for the reform.

Earlier this year, San Antonio state Sen. Jeff Wentworth's latest bid to reform redistricting in Texas failed. But legislation is pending in Congress that would require a bipartisan commission to redraw the lines in each state when congressional strength is reapportioned after every census.

The bipartisan legislation, filed by Reps. John Tanner, D-Tenn., Mike Castle, R-Del., and others would limit redistricting to once after every census as well.

Tanner has been pushing similar legislation since 2005. According a statement from Tanner, the legislation would require that districts "adhere to the Voting Rights Act, equal population, geography and local boundaries." The goal is to draw districts that don't split communities for strictly partisan advantage.

Reasonably drawn, competitive districts would produce House members that more accurately reflect America and respond to voters' wishes more readily.

U.S. representatives should answer to voters in real elections instead of coasting through lifelong careers in districts packed to protect them. The reform would improve the prospects of Washington returning to civility and take power from the hands of politically greedy party hacks such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

As of today, the American political system is broken. Reforming the congressional redistricting process gives voters a fighting chance for fair representation.