The people should decide redistricting rules - Brandenton Herald Editorial - Boot partisan politics out of the equation

Bradenton Herald
January 31, 2010

Florida 's voters now have the monumental opportunity to end the patently unfair practice of gerrymandering political boundaries that the party in power wields like a blunt instrument. Two proposals to amend the state Constitution just gained certification and will appear on the November ballot.

Notably, the petition drive to secure the required 676,811 signatures from registered voters was conducted by a bipartisan organization, FairDistrictsFlorida.org, led by some big names in Florida politics from both parties. This is not an effort by the disgruntled minority party.

With Florida poised to redraw the state's congressional and legislative districts once the 2010 Census is complete, now is the time to put the people in charge and limit the incumbent party's power to draw favorable boundaries — basically, using computer models to pick their voters.

The state Legislature is charged with redistricting, and the majority party — currently Republicans — holds sway in that duty. Currently, several boundaries isolate a large number of Democratic voters into single gerrymandered districts.

Florida House District 55 ropes in central St. Petersburg , jumps across Tampa Bay to snare a tiny section of southwest Hillsborough County and then follows a narrow slice of land through Manatee and Sarasota counties. This isolates many minority neighborhoods into one district. Congressional District 11 also jumps around Tampa Bay in a similar fashion. With a high concentration of Democrats within those boundaries, Republicans gain an voter advantage in neighboring districts.

Certainly, this works in reverse when Democrats are the party in control of the Legislature.

Redistricting boils down to this: The ruling party's mission is to protect its grip on as many seats as possible by stacking the deck with a high concentration of favorable voters while isolating a high number of opposition voters into fewer districts.

The two amendments would ban egregious gerrymandering and make seats drawn up to favor one party more competitive. District boundaries would be required to encompass existing geographic and political boundaries when achievable.

Legislators would continue to draw the districts but under those and other restrictions. Boundaries could be challenged in court. Amendment 5 covers Florida House and Senate districts while Amendment 6 applies to our congressional seats.

Amendment opponents in the Legislature have already hired top law firms — with taxpayers footing what is expected to be a bill in the millions — to find a legal way to keep the proposals off the ballot.

Lawmakers are throwing up a smokescreen by saying the amendments are too complicated and the six standards conflict with one another.

House Speaker-designate Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park , and Senate President-designate Mike Haridopolos, R-Indialantic, are leading the legal challenge.

If successful, that would deny voters the right to decide an issue that the Florida Supreme Court approved for the ballot. In this climate of great political discontent, the fear of voter wrath is understandable. And fear of the loss of power and control is, too.

But denying people the right to decide this is wrong.

Rigged elections or fair votes? Let the will of the people decide that question come November.