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REDISTRICTING DRAMA: LAWMAKERS SHOW FEAR OF FAIRNESS
Tallahassee Democrat Editorial -- February 15, 2010
There's nothing like a good old-fashioned power-and-turf struggle to
kick off another legislative season. Some lawmakers are rattled by the
possibility of two citizen-driven amendments that are meant to help take
some of the political machinations out of drawing legislative and
Congressional districts.
There is no way to take all the politics out; this is about power and
it's about people, after all.
But for three hours last week, two powerful lawmakers inappropriately
browbeat Miami attorney Ellen Freidin, chair of the FairDistricts
Florida petition campaign that last year the Supreme Court ruled was
ready for the ballot this fall.
Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, and Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Winter
Park, who'll be running the two chambers next year, mocked her
"easy-to-reach criteria" set out in the amendments, offering to fly Ms.
Freidin back to Tallahassee, give her a computer and let her sit in one
of their offices and draw the districts.
Right now, the Legislature does the redistricting work every 10 years
using the newest Census, which is not yet available to Ms. Freidin or
anyone else. But one reason the bipartisan FairDistricts drive started
was because lawmakers habitually draw the maps in ways that are too
self-serving, assuring their re-election above all.
This occurs regardless which party is in power, but once in power,
map-drawing ensures some longevity.
But voters end up the recipients of narrow bloc voting, intellectual
gridlock and fewer challengers who are willing to take on incumbents who
have districts tailor-made for them.
The amendments' goal is to make district lines more reflective of the
population, following natural geographic and other boundaries, thus
avoiding the bizarrely shaped gerrymandered boundaries that ensure a
certain election-day outcome.
The Florida State Conference of NAACP Branches has endorsed this new
approach. Under the guidelines, blacks, Hispanics and certain party
members couldn't be isolated into just a few districts, as they are now,
so that while a few might have a seat at the table, they have no real
power in numbers. If all districts have to appeal to a broader
demographic, all members would have to consider the causes of blacks,
Hispanics or other minorities or interest groups.
The ideal is for a better chance of statesmanship, of thinking of the
state as a whole, not just your own safe block of voters.
The ballot issues have been advanced by a bipartisan group of advocates
including influential Republican Thom Rumberger, a prominent Florida
attorney and chairman of the Everglades Trust, as well as former U.S.
Senator and Florida Gov. Bob Graham and former Attorney General Janet
Reno, both Democrats.
When it comes to redistricting reform, J. Gerald Hebert, executive
director of the Campaign Legal Center, a D.C.-based non-profit that
focuses on campaign finance and elections, political communications and
government ethics, told Trend magazine that "People don't think it's
possible to change the system, but it is.
"It becomes easier," Mr. Hebert said, "when people realize that the
system we have now is politicians choosing voters, rather than voters
choosing who their elected representatives are."
These amendments, which will require 60 percent voter approval, advance
the cause of voters electing officials rather officials choosing their
voters.
That's not something to mock.
There is no way to take all the politics out; this is about power and
it's about people, after all.
But for three hours last week, two powerful lawmakers inappropriately
browbeat Miami attorney Ellen Freidin, chair of the FairDistricts
Florida petition campaign that last year the Supreme Court ruled was
ready for the ballot this fall.
Sen. Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, and Rep. Dean Cannon, R-Winter
Park, who'll be running the two chambers next year, mocked her
"easy-to-reach criteria" set out in the amendments, offering to fly Ms.
Freidin back to Tallahassee, give her a computer and let her sit in one
of their offices and draw the districts.
Right now, the Legislature does the redistricting work every 10 years
using the newest Census, which is not yet available to Ms. Freidin or
anyone else. But one reason the bipartisan FairDistricts drive started
was because lawmakers habitually draw the maps in ways that are too
self-serving, assuring their re-election above all.
This occurs regardless which party is in power, but once in power,
map-drawing ensures some longevity.
But voters end up the recipients of narrow bloc voting, intellectual
gridlock and fewer challengers who are willing to take on incumbents who
have districts tailor-made for them.
The amendments' goal is to make district lines more reflective of the
population, following natural geographic and other boundaries, thus
avoiding the bizarrely shaped gerrymandered boundaries that ensure a
certain election-day outcome.
The Florida State Conference of NAACP Branches has endorsed this new
approach. Under the guidelines, blacks, Hispanics and certain party
members couldn't be isolated into just a few districts, as they are now,
so that while a few might have a seat at the table, they have no real
power in numbers. If all districts have to appeal to a broader
demographic, all members would have to consider the causes of blacks,
Hispanics or other minorities or interest groups.
http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20100215/OPINION01/2150304/1006/opinion
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