Power to the people

The first was a U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld Arizona’s independent redistricting process. Although the process was adopted by a vote of the people, the state’s legislature challenged it in court, essentially claiming its power to draw its own partisan districts could not be taken away. The court disagreed.

Last week, the Florida Supreme Court said that state’s legislature violated a state constitutional amendment adopted by voters in 2010 that prohibited partisan redistricting. The court ordered the legislature to redraw eight congressional districts — and to follow the people’s directive this time.

Residents in Arizona and Florida have an advantage over North Carolinians. They were able to vote on initiatives intended to create fair redistricting. In North Carolina, the state legislature denies the people that opportunity.

It’s not hard to see why. Redistricting is a self-serving exercise by which legislators in control of the process try to keep themselves and their political party in power. They gerrymander districts to choose the voters who are most likely to elect them.

The Arizona and Florida cases show how hard legislators will fight to keep this power to themselves, resisting fairer alternatives. In fact, the problem is clearly demonstrated in North Carolina, too.

Bills have been introduced to create an independent redistricting authority and have drawn support from fair-minded Republicans and Democrats. One such bill even passed the N.C. House in 2011, but was “dead on arrival” in the Senate.

Proponents have tried again this year with a bipartisan bill filed in the House in February. Rep. Jon Hardister (R-Guilford) is a primary sponsor. It has a total of 63 co-sponsors — an absolute majority in the 120-member House. Yet it has not so much as had a hearing in the House Elections Committee. Speaker Tim Moore, who was determined to allow as many votes as necessary to pass the Greensboro redistricting bill, won’t let the House vote even once on independent redistricting.

The opposition of Republican leaders in the House and Senate is easily understood by their desire to rig the electoral system in favor of their party. Democratic leaders, when they held power, did the very same thing.

There are signs the public’s patience is wearing out. Voters in Arizona and Florida, and some other states, have acted to take power from legislative leaders. The courts supported them.

It’s time for the balance of power to shift away from entrenched politicians and return to the people. North Carolina voters have less ability to influence their government than do residents of many other states, but sooner or later they will hold the politicians accountable. The best way to assure good government is to make candidates for office run in fair, competitive districts. That’s not the case in North Carolina today, but it can be if the people demand it.

http://www.greensboro.com/opinion/n_and_r_editorials/power-for-the-people/article_288f1624-2c00-11e5-9f27-77280cd56ecc.html?mode=print