It’s a time of great political change in the United States, and Coloradans should make a particular move that will create more competitive district races for public office.
The 2020 census is looming, and it will be followed by redistricting and reapportionment. Let’s prevent the evils that accompany district gerrymandering, which lead to paralyzing partisanship and don’t fully represent the people. Let’s take away U.S. congressional redistricting and state reapportionment responsibilities from save-my-district legislators, who prioritize political considerations. Instead, give them to an independent commission of people that don’t hold public office: four Democrats, four Republicans and four unaffiliated voters. Perhaps the governor and/or the chief justice of the Colorado Supreme Court could choose them.
The commission should conduct its business in open meetings. Let nonpartisan professionals, not the usual self-serving office holders, redraw the maps. (This is not to be confused with the ongoing, 11-member political commission that decides state legislative districts for both the House and Senate. This commission is comprised of four sitting legislators, three people appointed by the governor and four chosen by the chief justice of the Colorado Supreme Court.)
Among those that favor a new independent commission for both redistricting and reapportionment are former governors Dick Lamm (Democrat) and Bill Owens (Republican); past secretaries of state Bernie Buescher, Donetta Davidson and Gigi Dennis; former Colorado Majority Leader Norma Anderson; and others.
Starting in 2015, they worked for months on a proposal to create such an independent commission. But their work went for naught when the courts prevented Initiatives 132 and 133 from making last November’s ballot, saying they violated the single-subject rule. Colorado probably will gain an eighth seat in the U.S. House of Representatives by 2020. So the next redistricting, done only by state legislators, will be more important than ever.
These gerrymandering battles every 10 years are debilitating and we’re better than that. Whichever party is in power when it’s time to redraw the districts will squeeze the state map until it squeals in order to control as many districts as possible. Gerrymandering often fosters a lack of competitiveness in elections. The Brookings Institute pointed out that in American politics, the primaries are more competitive than the general election because we’re pretty sure about each district’s leanings when it comes to the latter. It makes the general election a fait accompli.
Colorado’s redistricting battles resulted in stalemates in 2000 and 2010, so the courts had to draw the district lines. Colorado made progress for more election fairness in 2016, passing Initiative 107, which created a presidential primary in the state, and Initiative 108, which allows unaffiliated voters to vote in primaries. Colorado has more than 1 million unaffiliated voters, and all were disenfranchised in the state’s 2016 primaries, caucuses and county assemblies. Fortunately, 107 and 108 took care of that. Now, let’s enable their votes — everyone’s votes — to mean more in general elections.
We saw a massive uprising of everyday people on Jan. 21, with women-led marches in dozens of cities worldwide that demanded equal rights and pushed progressive causes. Once again, it will take the people to force the creation of an independent commission. You don’t expect politicians to voluntarily give up redistricting power, do you?
If Colorado takes this step, it would join 21 other states that have created such commissions for redistricting purposes — either for the U.S. House of Representatives, their own state legislatures or both. (Overall, 37 states have the same commission handle both congressional redistricting and state districts. Seven states have just one congressional district, so they don’t need a commission; four states utilize independent commissions to draw the district maps; and in two states, political commissions draw the congressional district lines.)
In California, a 2008 ballot initiative created an independent commission that draws the lines for both congressional and state legislative districts. It has 14 members: five Democrats, five Republicans and four unaffiliated. The first eight commissioners chosen then elect the remaining six. This has led to more competitive state and federal district elections.
Time is running short for Colorado to implement any new system for redistricting and reapportionment in 2020. Time ran out in 2016 and we don’t want that to happen again.
Two-term Gov. Owens gets the final word on this issue: “We need to put responsibility for drawing districts in the hands of nonpartisan professionals who are committed to fairness and competition, which would produce the most accountable and effective representation,” he said.
Email: jimmartin@att.blackberry.net
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