Fair redistricting will reshape politics

The Tampa Tribune
January 17, 2010

One of the spoils for a legislative majority is the power to redraw congressional and legislative boundaries the way it wants following a national census.

Florida Republicans exercised that authority in 2002, and like the Democrats before them, drew districts to ensure they retained power. And it worked. In 2004 not one incumbent lost his or her seat.

Indeed, with the advantage offered by computer mapping and voter data analysis, the Republicans drew super majority districts that practically guaranteed a Republican victory. And to keep Democratic complaints to a minimum, they did the same for the minority party, insulating Democratic-leaning minorities in a few "safe" Democratic seats.

They found, as opponents of the process are wont to say, their voters.

Now Florida voters have a chance to take the raw politics out of the process by passing two proposed constitutional amendments headed to the ballot in November. The amendments would require legislative and congressional boundaries that favor neither party nor incumbent or compromise "the equal opportunity of racial or language minorities" to participate or elect their chosen representatives.

The amendments are meant to create a fair, more competitive system for both parties.

They would require compact districts that move along defined geographic boundaries. You should no longer find yourself living in a district where your "local" representative lives 100 miles away. No district line should bounce from one side of a street to another to take in a particular voter. A city the size of Temple Terrace would no longer be represented by three members of Congress.

Moreover, removing political favoritism from the process carries more urgency today than it did in 2002. Computer technology today provides parties with detailed information about voters and their voting habits, giving a clear strategic advantage to the party in power.

The proposed amendments would require that districts be compact and respect community boundaries. The districts should be as equal in population as feasible and not discriminate on the basis of race or language.

Approving these standards will improve the process. Wedges should not be driven between communities, counties and voters, yet that's what politically driven redistricting does.

Removing selfish political motives from the process is the main goal of FairDistrictsFlorida.

But forces are lining up against reform and creating strange alliances. It's ironic to see Dean Cannon and Mike Haridopolos, both Republicans and likely the next House speaker and Senate president respectively, in agreement with U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, one of the most liberal members of Congress, who argues passage of the amendments would cause a decline in minority representation.

They have one thing in common: protecting their seats. The truth is, politicians don't want a level playing field. They understand that when the deck is stacked to favor incumbents, it would be a rare event to be knocked off.

Meanwhile, state lawmakers are considering a second challenge of the ballot language, but that's not likely to go anywhere before a Supreme Court that has already approved it.

Voters have good reason to see to it these initiatives make the ballot and become part of our constitution. A logical electoral map that keeps neighborhoods together could reinvigorate a healthy two-party system where voters pick their politicians rather than the other way around.