Gerrymandering is the most important political issue
The only important issue is redistricting. You may have noticed that Washington has been in gridlock for eight-plus years, and it is obvious that this will continue. No action on health care. No action on immigration. No action on the opioid crisis. No action on infrastructure. Nothing on tax reform or the debt.
Did you also notice that Congress has favorable ratings in the single digits and they keep getting re-elected even though they get nothing done? They often face no opposition. How is this possible? Because the system is rigged. Well-meaning, and not-so-well-meaning, politicians who set the district boundaries do so to benefit themselves and their friends. It is call gerrymandering, which has been with us since the country was formed. But it has become more effective with sophisticated data collection. Basically, the politicians chose the voters instead of the other way around.
Have you ever noticed that candidates often do not face opposition? About 70 percent of districts had only one candidate to choose from in the November election.
In Maryland, Democrats drew one of the most gerrymandered districts in America and succeeded in winning 88 percent of the state’s congressional districts despite winning only 62 percent of votes.
Illinois Democrats drew districts so effective at wasting Republican votes that they won two-thirds of the state’s congressional districts with only 54 percent of the vote.
Fortunately, there is a way to fix this, by creating independent redistricting committees made up of non-politicians. Currently, 13 states use an independent commission. We have three years to make it happen.
Will independent redistricting eliminate gridlock? Maybe not. But I think it will. It will open up elections so that more people run, and as a result, more people will vote. Extreme candidates will have to move to the center and more will get done.
Brian Kasprzyk, Little River
This story was originally published September 29, 2017 at 5:11 PM with the headline "Gerrymandering is the most important political issue."