Redistricting

Winston-Salem Journal
December 14, 2010

Better late than never.

North Carolina voters might have to adopt that attitude toward an independent commission for legislative and congressional redistricting.

The state's new Republican legislative leaders say it's too late to implement an independent commission for 2011. The Republicans supported an independent commission for drawing up districts for the many years Democrats controlled both houses and drew maps that favored their party.

The U.S. Constitution and federal court decisions require the states to redraw their congressional and legislative district lines every 10 years to comply with the latest U.S.census. The states must assure that districts comply with requirements regarding one-person/one-vote and minority representation.

It would be hard to blame Republicans for wanting at least one chance, for the first time in state history, to decide how districts will be gerrymandered, to draw lines that pack incumbent Democrats together into single districts, to slip pockets of loyal Democratic voters into what are otherwise overwhelmingly Republican districts, to enjoy, in short, perpetrating the kind of political mischief on Democrats that they have endured for so long.

They'll get their chance. The incoming legislative leaders say lawmakers will draw the maps next session and have them ready for U.S. Department of Justice review in the summer.

There is hopeful news out of these leaders, however. Several told Freedom Newspapers that they would push for a constitutional amendment that would create the independent commission for future redistricting efforts.

As veteran Wake County Republican Rep. Paul Stam said, the commission should be created only via a constitutional amendment. If the commission were based only on a statute, it would be too easy for a future legislature to override it.

An independent commission should be made up of recognized nonpartisan leaders from across the state. While most early calls have centered on having the major parties contribute members, that advice should be ignored. The idea should be to create a commission whose first interest is to fashion competitive districts that are compact, contiguous and reflective of communities of interest. The commission should give not a single thought to the partisan nature of the districts or the presence of incumbents within them.

North Carolina's best hopes for a truly independent commission lie in a constitutional amendment that does not go into effect immediately. If today's legislators don't have to worry about how a commission will affect them, they are more likely to approve a truly independent, nonpartisan commission.

Let the amendment say the commission won't begin work until 2020. It will be worth the wait.