Redistricting, explained all for you ... by gimleteye

There is a movement afoot for a state-wide citizens referendum, "Fair Districts Florida" to collect enough signatures to qualify for the 2010 election cycle, providing for redistricting that represents the changing demographics of Florida. I've read a lot on the subject, and the best summary appeared recently on Daily Kos. Click "read more" for the text, but access the site itself to check out some of the maps and graphics. It's good! And sign the Fair Districts petition, and forward this link to your friends. You can also hit on the two petitions at left to enlarge them, and print them out.

"Legislators shouldn't get to pick their voters: voters should get to pick their legislators".

PS. What Daily Kos does not mention is the indignity inflicted on Floridians by special interests (ie. Chambers of Commerce, Associated Industries) who funded the 2006 amendment to the Florida constitution providing that citizen ballot petitions to change the Florida Constitution must pass by a 60 percent majority, rather than a simple 50 percent majority. This measure was aimed at amendments they deemed to be toxic to their control, including Florida Hometown Democracy that is still struggling to qualify for the 2010 ballot.

A New Hope For Redistricting in Florida
by Arjun Jaikumar aka brownsox

Sun Mar 01, 2009 at 04:11:14 PM PDT

"Legislators shouldn't get to pick their voters: voters should get to pick their legislators".

The 2010 U.S. Census is now around the corner, and that means that all the states of our union will be drawing new maps for legislative and Congressional redistricting following the census.

Even casual observers of redistricting understand the power of controlling the process, or at least having a seat at the table during redistricting. It could make the difference of a seat or two in several states, and perhaps as many as 10-20 Congressional seats overall.

Republicans enjoyed control over several critical states after the 2000 census, and were subsequently able to rig a number of Congressional maps rather brilliantly.

One case in point is Michigan, where a bluish-purple state which voted for Gore and Kerry was rigged to include nine Republicans and six Democrats at the Congressional level (the breakdown is now eight Democrats and seven Republicans).

Another is Ohio, also a swing state (though certainly redder than Michigan), which was gerrymandered to include 12 Republicans at the federal level, against only six Democrats. (The delegation now includes 10 Democrats and eight Republicans).

No state, however, saw a more partisan, less democratic gerrymander, both at the Congressional level and the state legislative level, than the state of Florida.

Florida has become famous for being a toss-up at the presidential level (most famously in 2000), and generally competitive in statewide races as well. Democrats actually outnumber Republicans in terms of registration within the state.

Yet the Republican legislature created a Congressional map after the 2000 census which included 18 Republicans against only seven Democrats.

The situation is even worse at the legislative level, where Democrats are in a virtually hopeless minority in both houses. Republicans control the state House with a 76-44 majority, and control the Senate with 26 seats to the Democrats' 14.

In a state essentially split down the middle between Republicans and Democrats, this kind of single-party dominance is as absurd as it seems on its face. Take a look at some of the beautiful Congressional districts the Republicans created:



That little flashing blue monstrosity is Corrine Brown's district, neatly designed to pack as many Democratic votes as possible from four Democratic-leaning counties (Duval County, Alachua County, Orange County, and Volusia County) into one district.

In 2002, the upshot of this was that the rest of North and Central Florida, with the exception of Blue Dog Allen Boyd's district, would be solidly red.

See that little blue dot at the top of the district, the one that doesn't seem anywhere near the rest of the district? That's Duval County.

Then underneath the district, seemingly also completely separate from the bulk of Brown's territory? That's a little splash of Orange County, strategically included so as to distill the Democratic strength and allow former Republican Reps. Ric Keller and Tom Feeney to cruise.

Want more? Check out FL-16:



Once Mark Foley's district, subsequently Tim Mahoney's and then Tom Rooney's, FL-16 actually stretches across the state from the Atlantic coast to the Gulf of Mexico, dipping, ducking, diving and dodging like a Hoyt Wilhelm knuckler.

This sucker looks even worse up close, particularly in the northeast "corner" of the district.

With the Republican Lege in full control of protecting their own butts, and Florida's Republican Governor Charlie Crist virtually assured of reelection if he wants it (he is also considering a Senate bid), Republicans are virtually guaranteed continued control over redistricting in 2012, and an opportunity to perpetuate their preposterous maps.

This is, unless Fair Districts Florida gets their way.

Fair Districts Florida is an independent, nonpartisan organization devoted to passing legal standards to eliminate partisan gerrymandering in redistricting. They seek to pass a ballot initiative in 2010 which would mandate fairness standards when drawing Congressional and legislative districts, essentially prohibiting the legislature from drawing districts for the purpose of incumbent protection or partisan gerrymandering...and providing a legal recourse if they fail to do so.

Here's the language of one of the proposed ballot initiatives, having to do with Congressional redistricting:

Congressional districts may not be drawn to favor or disfavor an incumbent or political party. Districts shall not be drawn to deny racial or language minorities the equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect representatives of their choice. Districts must be contiguous. Unless otherwise required, districts must be compact, as equal in population as feasible, and where feasible must make use of existing city, county and geographical boundaries.

The proposal stops short of appointing a nonpartisan or bipartisan redistricting board (such as those in Arizona and now California), but it does provide a legal recourse for opponents of a partisan gerrymander.

For example, once the Lege designs a new map for the 2012 cycle, they will have to open it up for public observation. So if the Republican majority gives us any particularly ridiculous maps, such as the ones featuring Brown's district, or Rooney's (or State Senator Dave Aronberg's, or Ralph Poppell's, or U.S. Rep. Ron Klein's)...

...they can then file suit against the map, with the argument that the new districts violate the new redistricting standards, and a court would be empowered to throw the map out.

So if the standards pass, and result in relatively fair, sensible district maps without a particular partisan design, this would hopefully result in more competitive races in more areas of the state. It would certainly mean more Democrats elected at the state and federal levels, at least compared to current numbers (with sane district maps, it's impossible not to).

Does the initiative have a shot of passing? The legal language has passed muster with the state courts, which is the first test.

Now, in order to get each proposed amendment on the ballot (there's one for Congressional redistricting and one for legislative redistricting), each of them must receive 676,811 valid signed petitions from registered Florida voters. (If you happen to be a registered Florida voter, and like this idea, you can download and sign the petition here).

If the amendments do make it to the 2010 ballot, they need to pass with 60% support in order to become law.

There appears to be considerable support for the amendments, including in the Florida press. From the St. Petersburg Times:

The Florida Supreme Court opened the door last week to greater accountability of elected officials when it approved for the ballot a citizens' initiative to change how political districts are drawn. Now supporters and Florida voters need to make sure this important reform comes to pass.

The current system for drawing legislative and congressional districts is broken. State lawmakers have used the once-a-decade process to draw safe seats for themselves and members of Congress. The result is incumbents are rarely threatened, as evidenced in November when a big shift in voter sentiment translated to little change in the partisan makeup of the Florida Legislature and the state's congressional delegation.

...

The hope of the amendments' sponsors is if the voters pass the constitutional amendments in November 2010, the changes will be in place for the next redistricting in 2012. Bringing fairness to political districts will make elected officials more accountable and give voters substantially more power over the direction of the state. It can't happen soon enough.

From the Tallahassee Democrat:

When the mapmakers, with their sophisticated computing skills, have more effect on the way the Legislature is elected than the voters do, something's wrong. And wrong it has been. A bipartisan effort to make what Rumberger calls this "necessary sea change" would be more honorable.

We have a lot of serious problems with the way Florida is governed — term limits, no run-off primary, toothless campaign financing rules, and presiding officers who have too much power and can't help but use it ruthlessly. But this is a step in the other direction, towards good government, not more of the same.

The most prominent opponents of the amendments, naturally enough, are the Republican Legislature and their conservative allies, ever focused on protecting their own seats and their own majority. At this stage, it's unclear who will line up with the Florida elephants, but the Chamber of Commerce, for example, is always a good bet on things like this.

Fortunately, Fair Districts Florida is not without powerful allies as well. Included as "coalition partners" are the AFL-CIO, SEIU, League of Women Voters, the UAW, EMILY's List, Planned Parenthood and AFSCME.

It's a tough road ahead for Fair Districts Florida, but the prize could be exceptional. A new map under the proposed standards would benefit the Democratic Party compared to the one the Republican legislature would draw up without the new standards, but the fundamental principle behind the initiative - the principle of fairness and competitive elections - is surely one which any party can support.

If you're a Floridian, you can help the cause by petitioning, donating or volunteering here. It may be the most essential action in the state for the 2010 cycle.