Take the Politics Out of Redistricting

An Open Letter from Cheryl Musgrave

Dear friends,

As we get closer to Election Day, it’s time to consider some of the overlooked issues that your vote will decide. Among those is the fate of Indiana’s laws on redistricting. I believe that it’s time to reform our laws to make the process fairer and more transparent for voters.

The General Assembly redraws congressional and state legislative districts after each Census. That means that the legislators you elect this year for the State House of Representatives and the State Senate will decide whether Evansville remains in the Eighth Congressional District or gets shifted to the Ninth, and the boundaries of all state representative districts.

I think it’s time that we took politics out of redistricting and made the process simpler and more rational. The temptation for career politicians to guarantee their pension plans by engaging in an incumbent protection racket is too great. And the only losers in these political games are voters.

That’s why I endorsed Secretary of State Todd Rokita’s “Rethinking Redistricting” plan earlier this year. (You can learn more about the plan at www.RethinkingRedistricting.com.)

Secretary Rokita’s proposal ensures that communities are kept together and districts are drawn compactly. It also bars the use of political data, like voter registration totals, in creating new boundaries and “nest” two state House districts within one state Senate district.

These changes would make politicians run harder for their offices. By keeping communities together within the same district, our voices would be heard more clearly in Indianapolis. It would also make the process much simpler to administer (for election officials) and easier to understand (for the rest of us). In fact, I would go even further than Rokita in one regard: I support turning the process over to a non-partisan board, like the one in Iowa.

This stand isn’t popular with many politicians on both sides. They’re afraid to run in the more competitive districts that would result from this plan. But I believe that sometimes politics is too important to be left to the politicians. It ought to be in the hands of the voters. We will all benefit from a legislature that’s closer to the people’s wishes, instead of being subject to the whims of long-term legislators like Speaker Pat Bauer.

At the same time, the next General Assembly should reform our broken early voting system. It’s a shame that a single, unelected, Democratic member of the Warrick County elections board could veto the entire county’s right to have convenient early voting. I note that my opponent has never objected to this outcome.

I say that voters in Warrick and Vanderburgh Counties should have the same ability to vote when they want to. For me, it isn’t about partisan advantage: it’s about doing the right thing. That’s why, if elected, I will introduce a bill requiring county elections boards to work with school corporations, universities, and public libraries to create fair and efficient voting plans for every precinct in the state.

These are important issues. They affect the exercise of our fundamental right as Americans: the right to peaceably replace our government. You know where I stand on these issues, and I hope you’ll stand with me on Election Day.