redistricting reform

Why is this important?

Did you realize that over 95% of Members of Congress are reelected with ease every year? I can tell you right now, it is not because over 95% Members of Congress are great Representatives, it is because the system is rigged.

Fewer than 30 districts out of 435, about 6 percent of the entire House of Representative will be competitive (i.e. the winner will capture 55-60% of the vote). Although the US Constitution sets out 2 year terms for Members of the House, in reality the terms of office for most members is at least 10 years.

Why? Because every ten years, local politicians in every state decide how to divide up their state into Congressional districts. The results are either incumbent/party protection-- like California and New York-- or purely partisan gain-- like North Carolina and Texas. The result is the elections of extremists, increased partisanship and decreased voter turnout.

There are only a few constraints with redistricting-- the districts must be equal in population size, and the districts can't be based on the race of the residents/voters. The courts have no problem with creating districts based on partisanship, leading Republicans in Texas to re-redistrict in 2003 after they made won some more seats in the state house. And now the source of the funding for those Republicans is under criminal investigation. Despite this, Democrats in states like Illinois and New Mexico contemplated re-redistricting their states.

Enough is enough. We can stop politicians from picking their voters by pushing through common sense reforms state by state. Ballot initiatives have already started in California and Ohio. Add your state to the list and bring representation back to the House of Representatives. Let the voters pick their politicans, not the other way around.

(cross-posted on Let The People Choose)