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Legal Center Urges Senate to Hold Redistricting Reform Hearings On July 31, 2006, the Campaign Legal Center sent a letter to Chairman Sam Brownback (R-) urging him to hold hearings on Congressional redistricting before the end of the 109th Congress.
The full letter is below.
___________________________
July 31, 2006
The Honorable Sam Brownback
SD-162 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Chairman Brownback:
The Campaign Legal Center strongly urges you to hold hearings early this fall on the issues affecting congressional redistricting. As the record developed in the Texas congressional case (League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry, decided recently by the US Supreme Court) clearly shows, the redistricting process can be used by political party operatives as a tool for partisan gain, while the protections afforded minority voters under the Voting Rights Act often get trampled in the process.
While the Senate has recently passed legislation reauthorizing the Act, there still remain serious and growing questions about current redistricting practices. For example, the Supreme Court's Texas decision did not find mid-decade redistricting to be unconstitutional -- a decision that seemingly permits Legislatures across the country to redistrict after each and every election solely to achieve partisan gain.
Problems such as fractious gerrymandering, the decreased competitiveness of congressional elections caused by carefully calibrated districts drawn to safeguard incumbents (leading to decreased accountability), and the repeated shifting of voters through re-redistrictings solely designed to achieve political power grabs undermine the American voters' confidence in the integrity of our democratic process.
Proposals aimed at addressing these problems are pending in the Congress. Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) introduced S. 2350 the Fairness and Independence in Redistricting Act of 2006, and there are several redistricting bills pending in the House. While there is little time left in the 109th Congress for substantive action on this topic, there is time for the Subcommittee to hold hearings as a means of starting the critical conversation inside and outside of Congress on potential reforms. Senator Johnson's bill would be a good starting point for this conversation.
We believe that redistricting reform is critical. The Senate will need to act in the next Congress to ensure that competitiveness and accountability remain healthy parts of our democratic process and keep the overly partisan and unchecked redistricting process from spinning out of control. Our nation cannot continue down the road with a system that undermines our representative democracy by allowing elected officials to choose their constituents, rather than a system where voters choose their elected officials.
We urge you to schedule hearings this fall on redistricting reform and the best ways to ensure and promote competitiveness and accountability in our democratic system.
Thank you for your time and consideration of this matter that is so critically important to the future of democracy in the United States.
Sincerely,
J. Gerald Hebert
Executive Director
Meredith McGehee
Policy Director
cc: Senator Russell Feingold
Chairman Arlen Specter
Senator Patrick Leahy
Senate Judiciary Committee
Senator Tim Johnson |
