Independent Redistricting: Empower Voters, Not Parties

INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING

• Let's break redistricting impasse tradition - Legislature must approve map that puts voters ahead  (EDITORIAL Coloradoan) In our state, independent voters make up almost one-third of the voting bloc. Drawing districts based on political parties' whims is shortsighted and unfair to a large portion of voters.
• Race, remaps and reforms (By Jack Betts, Charlotte Observer) It's not often you hear a sitting politicians acknowledge publicly that his party will use racial demographics in order to unseat opponents - and identify the top targets. In doing so, McHenry - who was, in his first term, the youngest person elected to Congress - helped make the case that's been so obvious for so long that no one pays much attention to it anymore: An independent restricting panel ought to be redrawing districts, not the politicians in charge. That only allows the dominant party to help themselves stay in power. When politicians pick their voters rather than allowing voters to choose their politicians, you get officeholders practically salivating on ways to put the opposition at a disadvantage.