Make Redistricting fair to voters

Editorial, Jacksonville Daily News, July 30, 2013.

The process for drawing legislative and congressional districts in North Carolina is not intended to serve the voters. It serves politicians — specifically, the politicians who control the General Assembly. That stands the principle of government by and for the people on its head.

It matters little that a three-judge panel has ruled that the state’s latest redistricting is legal. There’s often a huge disconnect between what is legal and what is fair and right. And this redistricting plan, like countless gerrymandering efforts before it, is a slap in the face to voters.

There is another way, and in 2011 the N.C. House overwhelmingly approved a bill that would pave the way for an independent commission that would be charged with drawing sensible, workable districts without regard to political makeup of the district. Variations of the concept are being used in a dozen other states.

Among other things, the system has reduced the seemingly unending barrage of lawsuits such as those that inevitably follow redistricting in North Carolina.

Republicans spent much of the past decade in court trying to get Democrat-drawn districts overturned; now Democrats are poised for the same drawn-out court battle challenging Republican-drawn districts.

This is unproductive, expensive and unnecessary.

One of the criticisms of some states that assign redistricting to independent commissions is that the legislature has no say. That doesn’t have to be the case. Iowa puts the maps in the hands of the commission, whose appointees come from a variety of political and professional backgrounds, but gives the legislature the final vote.

That system prevents an unelected commission from having too much power, while removing the heart of the process from partisan politics.

Truth be told, the Legislature had plenty of time before redistricting to mandate a new approach. But the temptation of drawing lines that better ensure Republican victories was too great even though they had pledged to distinguish themselves from their Democratic predecessors who used redistricting powers in the exact same manner.

There is still an opportunity. Current legislation to change the redistricting process, House Bill 606, was referred to committee before the legislature adjourned. Among the sponsors are two Onslow County legislators, George Cleveland and Phil Shepard.

The proposal, which outlines a nonpartisan process, has considerable merit. Polls show North Carolina voters would embrace the change.

For too long, district lines were drawn to segregate or dilute certain voting blocs, and to ensure that the reigning party became entrenched. But elections are not about the politicians. They are the voters’ chance to decide how their government will be run, and by whom.

Stacking the deck through political gerrymandering may be legal, but it will never be right.