The Independent View: Voters and Courts Slowly Take Lawmakers Redistricting Power

Thanks to the Passage of Ballot Measures in the Midterm Elections, Colorado, Michigan, and Missouri, have joined 13 other States that use Independent Commissions or other Bipartisan or Nonpartisan means to create Legislative or Congressional Districts, or both, to combat Gerrymandering.

Colorado

Voters had Two Ballot Measures that Passed and will Overhaul the State's Redistricting Process and seek to Prevent Partisan Gerrymandering.

Colorado has a Troubled History of Gerrymandering. Courts have stepped in to choose the District Maps Three of the last Four Redistricting Cycles. And both Parties have been accused of Gerrymandering Maps to their Benefit. "The framers didn't intend this," Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, said of the "full-contact sport" that Redistricting has become for the Two Parties. Maps are Redrawn every 10 years after the Census.

The Measures would Amend the State Constitution to Explicitly Prohibit Gerrymandering. They would establish New Criteria for Map Drawers to promote Competitive Elections, while seeking to keep Intact Communities of Interest, such as Racial or Ethnic Groups, as well as Political Subdivisions, such as Cities and Counties.

Non-Partisan Legislative Staff would be Tasked with Drawing the Initial Maps, which would then be Subject to Approval by an Independent Commission. The Changes would put more Independents on the Commission, Diluting the Influence of the Two Major Parties.

Michigan

Voters passed a Constitutional Amendment Designed to Limit Excessive Partisan Gerrymandering in the State, taking the Power to Draw State Legislative and Congressional Lines away from Lawmakers and giving it to an Independent Commission.

The Win is significant because Michigan is currently considered one of the most Gerrymandered States in the Country. Republicans Controlled the Redistricting Process in 2011 and ruthlessly Gerrymandered Districts to give the GOP an Advantage for the Next Decade. They have consistently Won Nine of the State’s 14 Congressional Seats even though Barack Obama carried the State in 2012 and President Trump barely Won it in 2016. An Analysis by the Brennan Center for Justice estimates Gerrymandering in Michigan is responsible for an additional Two to Three Seats in Congress.

Giving an Independent Commission control over Drawing State and Congressional Lines, Advocates say, will ensure that No Party can Manipulate the Redistricting Process, done Once every 10 years, to its Severe Advantage.

Missouri

After weeks of Legal Skirmishes that nearly Knocked it Off the Ballot, Voters decided the Fate of a Wide-Ranging Amendment to the State’s Constitution known as Clean Missouri. The Proposal, which Appeared as Amendment 1, includes Reforms its Advocates argue will help Clean-Up the Missouri General Assembly, ranging from a Cap on Lobbyist Gifts to Lawmakers to a Requirement that All Legislative Records be Open to the Public.

But its most Sweeping Change, and the most Controversial, is how the Constitutional Amendment Overhauls the way State Legislative Districts are Drawn. To its Supporters, Missouri’s current Redistricting Method is Driven by Politicians serving their Own Interests in an Opaque Process designed to Protect Incumbents. The Lack of Competitiveness, they argue, Leads to Unaccountable Politicians.

Electoral Maps have come Under Fire in States across the Country in recent years. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court Redrew the State's Congressional Maps earlier this year, after finding that they were Illegally skewed toward Republicans.

The U.S. Supreme Court is Now considering Gerrymandering Case in a number of States facing Legal Challenges.