A bill filed this session would establish an independent commission to draw the state's district lines.
The goal would be to avoid the contentious and litigious debate that typically accompanies the required changes to the state's legislative districts, said Sen. Pete Brunstetter, a Lewisville Republican and senate sponsor of the bill. House and Senate Republicans said they believe the bill and others similar to it would curb gerrymandering.
"The big problem is it allows legislators to choose their voters and not vice versa," Brunstetter said.
The state constitution currently calls for the legislature to change districts after the federal decennial census. The idea is to have legislative districts reflect changes in population.
More after the jump.
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The commission would be named for the late Sen. Hamilton C. Horton Jr., a Forsyth Republican. House Republican leader Paul Stam said Horton was a well-respected champion for fair redistricting. Senate Republican leader Phil Berger said he was one of the great orators in the legislature.
Other bills that would change the way the state does redistricting have been offered by Rep. Nelson Dollar, a Cary Republican and Rep. John Blust, a Greensboro Republican. Dollar's bill would allow members of the public to submit redistricting proposals. Blust's bill would prohibit a redistricting commission from considering political party, incumbents or previous election results in devising state districts.
Comments
Re: Bills would make redistricting blind
March 31, 2009 - 7:05pm — alaskan1Impeach everyone in office!
Re: Bills would make redistricting blind
March 31, 2009 - 2:35pm — jesmyopinionI bet a 2 year old can draw better lines than what we have now... And we would not have to pay them as much!
Re: Bills would make redistricting blind
March 31, 2009 - 2:30pm — henryePolitics will never let this happen unfortunatly. Redistricting should be done by Citzens who do not vote. It sounds absurd, But since we have so many who do not vote, It would be a fair way to do it. With no lobbying
allowed by anyone Since a lot of voting is done by racial lines, This would make the districts more evenly balanced
Re: Bills would make redistricting blind
March 31, 2009 - 2:28pm — AmericanNationalistBoth parties should want districting to be fair. If this passes David Price and Brad Miller can kiss their offices good bye.
Re: Bills would make redistricting blind
March 31, 2009 - 1:10pm — CitizenOpinionatedJNorris - part of the problem is the fact that Democrats have held a stranglehold on the NC General Assembly for years. I.E. Look at Brad Millers' district.
Re: Bills would make redistricting blind
March 31, 2009 - 12:55pm — jnorrisThe problem with these proposals is their source. The party out of power always wants to make redistricting fair. The party in power always wants to cement its grip.
If Brunstetter thought his bill had a chance, he wouldn't have named the redistricting commission for a Republican stalwart. That alone makes it clear his proposal isn't serious.
The legislature isn't going to make districting fair. North Carolina courts aren't going to force fair districting. Until or unless voters of all political stripes join forces to demand a rational districting system, we'll remain at the mercy of whichever partisan hacks currently hold sway.
Re: Bills would make redistricting blind
March 31, 2009 - 12:14pm — jesmyopinionGee - the legislators are so smart - I guess there is hope for them yet. How did they figure out the citizens of NC do not want to have the races determined even before the citizens get to vote? Who would have thunk the districts should be divided up into a fair proportion and not some crazy gerrymandering district as they are now set up??? They are so smart!!!