WHY REDISTRICTING SHOULD MATTER TO YOU
Elbridge Gerry signed the Declaration of Independence and served as Constitutional Convention delegate, U.S. vice president and governor of Massachusetts. He is not, however, known for any of that. Instead, he is known for rigging elections.
While serving as governor in 1811, Gerry — a member of Jefferson’s Democratic-Republican Party — opposed a legislative candidate from the competing Federalist Party. In doing so, Gerry approved a controversial redistricting plan that changed the legislative district boundary in a way that gave his party’s candidate a substantial advantage. Since the new district looked like a salamander, political cartoons called the practice “gerry…mandering.”
Gerrymandering has been used ever since to describe redistricting legislative boundaries to unfairly affect the power of groups and weight of their votes. It has been used to preserve political power, defeat incumbents or challengers, benefit partisan forces, split communities and dilute minority votes. In discussing gerrymandering, a state senator once proclaimed, “We are in the business of rigging elections.”
Smart political operatives like Gerry know voters within communities of interest (geographic, economic, social, etc.) tend to vote similarly, often as voting blocs. If communities of interest remain within a district, they can have a significant impact on which legislative candidate is elected and what policies the representative emphasizes.
On the other hand, an otherwise strong voting bloc can be marginalized by splintering its voters among several districts, thereby diluting its impact.
For over 150 years, minority voters were marginalized in many regions using practices such as gerrymandering.
In 1965, however, the landmark federal Voting Rights Act was adopted with bipartisan support. It prohibits election-related practices that are shown to have a racially discriminatory result by, among other things, diluting the voting power of minority communities through gerrymandering.
Today, civil rights laws and court decisions have established legal parameters that help guard against gerrymandering. Governments are to create boundaries that emphasize factors such as compactness of the district, contiguous neighborhoods, preservation of communities of interest and substantially equal population among districts. Although there is discretion in applying these and other permitted factors, discretion has its legal limits, and district boundaries should no longer resemble a salamander.
In addition, many states and local communities have sought to reduce politicians’ influence by forming commissions to lead redistricting through public hearings. These commissions are typically selected and operate in ways that insulate them from politicians. Both the city and county of San Diego have impaneled redistricting commissions to adjust legislative district boundaries for the 2022 elections.
They have user-friendly websites that make it easy to understand the process and participate.
Visit sandiegocounty.gov/redistricting for information on the county’s 14-member Independent Redistricting Commission.
Visit sandiego.gov/redistrictingcommission for information on the city’s nine-member Redistricting Commission.
Both websites explain the processes by which commissioners were selected and their backgrounds. They show the calendars and outline easy steps for addressing the commissions. The meetings are conducted by video, which can be viewed at home. Speakers address the commission by video.
The websites give background as to what occurred at previous meetings and agendas for future meetings, as well as factors commissioners are asked to consider. Proposed draft district maps may soon be posted as the processes are nearing their completion in December.
The best way to help ensure a fair redistricting process is to participate in these commissions.
Our local City Council members and county supervisors are important to our daily lives, particularly on issues such as land use, traffic, housing, environment and other matters of local concern.
All communities should participate to help ensure they will have a meaningful say in selecting their local representatives.
Historically marginalized communities should be particularly attuned to the redistricting process.
Here are some participation ideas. First, determine whether there is already a local group advocating for your community of interest. If so, they can supply helpful information. Second, visit one or both of the above websites and read about the history, status, issues, next meeting and process for speaking. Third, watch the meeting(s) on video and communicate your views in writing or during the meeting by video.
Your written or oral comments can be something as simple as: “I ask that [community of interest] be kept intact as a voting bloc [although unnecessary, perhaps add the district number]. Here’s why: [add a sentence or two].”
Redistricting is nearly as important as voting. If voting selects a representative, redistricting selects the constituency. Although the process has improved considerably since Gov. Gerry’s era, democracy still requires effort. Speak out to ensure your vote will count.
Goldsmith is a former law partner, adjunct law professor, superior court judge, San Diego city attorney, California state legislator and mayor of Poway. He lives in San Diego.