The
2003 flight of the Texas Democrats to Ardmore, Okla., in an effort to
stop U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay's redistricting plan by breaking the quorum in
the Texas House already has become one of the legendary episodes in the
colorful political history of the Lone Star State.
But as we all know, the Democrats only delayed the inevitable, as the Republicans were later able to push DeLay's plan through.
The
result was made clear in the 2004 election, when the Republicans gained
21 out of 32 seats (66 percent), even though they had only won 58
percent of the congressional vote.
The
Democrats cried foul, but it can be argued that they had little right
to complain. After all, the last time that the Democrats fully
controlled the redistricting process, they took 21 out of 30 seats (70
percent) in the 1992 election, even though they won only about 50
percent of the congressional vote — barely more than the Republicans.
The
results of partisan redistricting are plain to see. Rarely are the true
voting trends of the state reflected in the actual results of
congressional elections.
The
party in power seeks only to maximize its partisan advantage, so it
packs as many supporters of the opposing party into as few districts as
possible, while ensuring a sufficient margin to guarantee victory for
its own candidates in as many districts as possible. The result is that
very few of Texas' 32 congressional districts are genuinely
competitive.
If
you're unlucky enough to be a Democrat in a Republican district or a
Republican in a Democratic district, your right to vote has effectively
been stolen. Indeed, many districts are so skewed toward one party that
no candidate from the other party even bothers to run. With victory
preordained for the majority party, what would be the point?
To
further maximize its partisan advantage, the majority party regularly
slices up communities. Austin, for example, no longer has a solid
congressional district of its own but is divided into three districts.
The result is that two-thirds of Austinites are represented by
Republicans, even though the city itself is solidly Democratic.
Partisan
redistricting also has been blamed for diluting the voting power of
rural areas vis-à-vis urban areas, which significantly impacts such
issues as water rights. Finally, many observers believe that partisan
redistricting contributes to low voter turnout; if citizens know that
the result already has been decided, why bother voting?
Fortunately,
several legislators from both parties have been putting forth
interesting and workable proposals for creating a fair and (to the
greatest extent possible) unbiased system for congressional
redistricting.
Perhaps
the most outspoken advocate of redistricting reform is Sen. Jeff
Wentworth, R-San Antonio. For more than a decade, Wentworth has
proposed bills that would create a bipartisan panel, in which Democrats
and Republicans would have equal representation, to handle the
redistricting process. No legislators or political candidates would be
allowed on the panel, and strict conflict-of-interest provisions would
be in place.
Wentworth's
proposed system defines the terms under which districts can be drawn. A
congressional district would have to take into account the existing
borders of counties, towns and cities. Most important, no redistricting
plan would be permitted to purposefully favor or discriminate against
any political party or other group. The days when politicians could
highjack the electoral process to suit their own ends would be over.
Other
members of the Legislature have suggested additional measures. Rep.
Mark Strama, D-Austin, has pre-filed a bill that specifically prohibits
any redistricting plan from taking into account the impact it might
have on any incumbent or potential candidate for political office. Rep.
Allan Ritter, D-Beaumont, has pre-filed a resolution calling for a
constitutional amendment that would permit congressional redistricting
only once per decade.
The
essence of a republic is that the citizens choose their
representatives, not the other way around. This issue will not go away.
The Legislature should give the proposals of Wentworth, Strama and
Ritter the attention they deserve. The people of Texas deserve no less.
