Late in the session, this bill is suspicious

Redistricting and gerrymandering are topics in the news as we approach the 10-year mark for new census data. The U.S. Census numbers affect the number of U.S. House of Representative seats allocated to states; thus redistricting based on those new numbers becomes critically important to the political parties. Idaho’s current, rather exemplary system for redistricting every 10 years is in jeopardy as a new plan is being introduced in the Idaho Senate.

Idaho’s unique shape and size, distribution of urban and rural populations, and special geography present a special challenge to any redistricting committee intent on fairness, i.e. assuring equal weight to each vote. Other criteria for determining the shape of each district, such as keeping urban areas intact in one district, using logical geographical lines, and having an in-district transportation route, must be weighed around those aforementioned characteristics.

That SB105 has been printed awaiting vote this late in the session seems a suspicious attempt to diminish the chance of public scrutiny and response. It appears that the Republican-dominated Legislature is trying once again to turn the balanced bipartisan commission into a blatantly partisan group by adding additional members chosen by the party in power. (During the last redistricting event, Republican State Central Committee officials tried to fire one of their appointed members for not being partisan enough. Idaho Press-Tribune, Jan. 23, 2012.)

The current redistricting commission, passed with strong bipartisan support (64 percent) in 1993, has well served the needs of Idaho and is a model that other states currently in litigation for blatantly partisan gerrymandering should emulate. The current commission allows for transparency, public input, specific guidelines for drawing district lines for fairness and logic, and scrutiny by the Idaho Supreme Court. It works to assure that one’s vote counts equally. Changes to the current commission will permit elected officials to choose their voters instead of voters fairly choosing their elected officials.

Please contact your state senator immediately to express you opposition to this bill. Let’s retain fairness and logic in our redistricting plan.

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Paula Neils, of Hauser, is chair of Kootenai County Democrats.