Letters to the editor: nonpolitical redistricting for equal representation
The issue with political gerrymandering is the lack of equal and fair representation for each individual. It has been a major political issue since its start in 1812 and there has been a recent bill proposed in the General Assembly that would fix the problem. It would establish a separate, nonpolitical redistricting commission that would redraw the district maps properly, with no one side gaining an advantage. However, there has been an amendment proposed that would defeat the purpose of this commission altogether. It would allow those in the majority party in the General Assembly to determine who controls that commission and thus allow them to draw the maps based on their own agendas.
As one of the leading democratic countries in the world, we owe it to ourselves to represent our voters equally and effectively, not by restricting the majority. In a survey taken by the Campaign Legal Center in 2018, an overwhelming majority of Americans, 71 percent to 15 percent, want the Supreme Court to place limits on lawmakers’ ability to manipulate voting maps.