A flawed amendment to Colorado redistricting rules

The proposed amendment to change the Colorado Constitution regarding the reapportionment of congressional and state legislative districts — Initiative 55 — is seriously flawed. The biggest concern is language stating that no district shall be drawn for the purpose of strengthening a “racial minority group.” This does not support the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision regarding “one person, one vote.”

The Colorado Constitution follows the Supreme Court’s decision from the 1960s and allows for 11 members on the Reapportionment Commission, including four appointed by the chief justice of the Colorado Supreme Court.

Initiative 55 would eliminate the chief justice’s appointments in favor of political appointments — eight appointments by legislative leaders, up from four currently, who select four additional individuals registered as independents. Imagine the shenanigans as people register as independents in order to be hand-selected.

This creates a more partisan commission and creates a 12-member body, likely generating 6-6 voting ties and resulting in unnecessary litigation, divisiveness, delays and partisanship. The original purpose for the commission was to remove redistricting from the hands of legislators, but this proposal drops it back into the political process that Coloradans have avoided for four decades.

As a member of the initial commission, I can tell you firsthand that the process is not perfect, but it is effective and accomplishes its purpose as adopted by the citizens of Colorado.

Ruben A. Valdez, Lakewood