The Census numbers are in and it's time to assign new Congressional districts.
I hope we can all agree that allowing the political parties to draw those district lines is insane and the root of political corruption.
The party that has the majority in a States legislator gets the say in what the new district lines will be. They will draw those lines to the benefit of their party. In Texas the Republicans get to draw those district lines. In California the Democrats get to draw those lines. So how many States are controlled by Republicans and how many States are controlled by Democrats will tell you who has the advantage.
BOTH parties will draw their lines to their party's benefit. Both parties do it.
So it depends on who the electorate has elected to their State House. That seems fair, but again, it's insane to allow the political parties to draw those district lines.
Winning elections have consequences and the party with the majority has the power. There have been all sorts of ideas to change this process, but that means changing the law and no politician is about to give up their advantage.
You are right, sir. No politician is going to give up their rights to draw their districts anymore than they are going to vote for their own term limits. Unfortunately, I am not sure what the answer is that would be fair for drawing the districts. Any ideas?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure there is a perfectly fair answer.Certainly it is necessary to take that task away from the politicians. Maybe using zip code, or County lines not drawn up by politicians. The government uses Census - County numbers to decide priority for distributing funds based on need.It would seem reasonable to use that County system to decide new Congressional placement and probably elections to fill those new positions.
ReplyDeleteCounty borders might be a fair way to do it to a certain extent, but some metropolitan counties might have a huge population versus rural counties with small population. Distributing a relatively equitable population per representative might be challenging in some cases. It is a good idea to start though.
ReplyDeleteWe can't get away from the urban/rural population problem. People make the same complaint about the Senate representation. Two Senators per State even if the population difference is in the 10's of millions. Of course, to change that system would take a Constitutional rewrite.
ReplyDeleteJust one of the reasons I'm not a strict constructionist. I believe the law must change over the centuries to reflect a more modern time. I believe that's why the founders put in the Constitution a clause and formula to change the Constitution. They knew the Constitution would have to change over the years. They purposely made it difficult with the formula being 2/3rds of the States would have to ratify. Meaning a super majority of the country would have to agree to any changes. Something that's not possible in the current political atmosphere.