Given today's implicit approval by the Supreme Court of the redrawing of Congressional district lines in mid-decade, rather than shortly after the decennial census, will there be a spate of map-drawing every time a state legislature changes hands from one party to another?
"Some people are predicting a rash of mid-decade redistricting. I am skeptical," said Richard Hasen, an election law expert at Loyola Law School. "It would be seen as a power grab in a lot of places."
Er, Mr. Hasen, what the hell was the Texas redistricting seen as? Did it stop DeLay and his buddies from doing it?
I still maintain there's a need for non-partisan commissions in each state to do the redistricting once every ten years and no more, unless there's a huge displacement of population within a state between censuses. Otherwise the gerrymandering will continue. With new software, the maps can be drawn with such sophistication that there will soon be almost no chance that an incumbent can be beaten. Is that what we want in this country?
Posted by Linkmeister at June 28, 2006 01:22 PM | TrackBackGeez, what's to stop a legislature from redrawing the lines every two years? It's another way for legislative leaders to strengthen their power by being able to reward or punish members.
Did the Supreme Court stop to consider how this kind of thing affects voters, or is it only elected officials who have rights deserving protection nowadays?
Reeps might be rejoicing, but there are a lot of states, including California, where the tables can be turned, and it'll be nasty.
Politicians should not draw their own district lines anymore.
Posted by: John Stodder at June 28, 2006 01:55 PMI think the Supremes rarely put pragmatism into their decisions, more's the pity. If nothing else, imagine the cost of all the special elections required every time there was a redrawing of maps.
If a commission's good enough for these nine states, it's good enough for the country as a whole. Granted, not all of those are entirely non-partisan, but they're all better than what happened in Texas.
Posted by: Linkmeister at June 28, 2006 02:22 PMPix,
Look! Pigs! Up in the sky! ;)