[IMC-Boston-Dispatch] Fwd: CC/MA Statement on Fair Districts

[News at JamaicaPlainGazette.com]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: "CC/MA Press Release" <maupdate at commoncause.org>
> Date: August 1, 2005 6:04:40 PM EDT
> To: <news at jamaicaplaingazette.com>
> Subject: CC/MA Statement on Fair Districts
> Reply-To: "CC/MA Press Release" <maupdate at commoncause.org>
>
>
>
> COMMON CAUSE MASSACHUSETTS NEWS
>
>
> For Immediate Release:                                 Contact:
> August 1, 2005                                     Pam Wilmot,  
> 617-426-9600
>                                                                        
>            617-962-0034
>
> Statement of Pamela H. Wilmot, Executive Director, at Announcement  
> of Fair Districts Initiative Petition Press Conference
>
> Today we deliver on a promise we made seven months ago and announce  
> the filing of an initiative petition to bring the issue of Fair  
> Districts to the people of Massachusetts.  For it is the people  
> that lose when districts are manipulated to protect those with  
> political power. Often called “gerrymandering,” the way  
> Massachusetts draws electoral districts is not fair.  It limits  
> electoral competition, diminishes political accountability,  
> disenfranchises minority voters, and leads to confusing and often  
> crazy district lines.  In fact, courts have rejected redistricting  
> plans every time they have been before the courts since the mid- 
> eighties—in 1987, 1993, and 2004.
>
> The current process of redistricting is nothing short of democracy  
> on its head: Elected officials picking their voters instead of the  
> other way around.  This petition will put the voters back in their  
> rightful place—and restore their ability to fully select  
> representatives of their choice.
>
> We know the voters are behind us.  Last summer Common Cause  
> collected signatures and qualified public policy questions on  
> redistricting reform in 15 state representative districts. All of  
> the questions passed overwhelmingly—by an average of 67%.
>
> We know that many legislators are behind us—some are here today  
> including the legislation’s chief sponsor Senator Richard T. Moore  
> (D-Uxbridge)—and others are working with their colleagues to move  
> this issue forward from the inside.  The petition we announce today  
> augments the efforts of 58 Senators and Representatives who filed  
> the Fair Districts legislation last year.  We will be working on  
> parallel track with each effort augmenting the other.
>
> The petition we announce today is very similar to the Fair  
> Districts legislation, yet reflects comments we have received from  
> legislators and others.  It will create a non-partisan 7- member  
> independent redistricting commission, selected by 7 different  
> individuals. The commissioners will come from many different  
> backgrounds and areas of expertise, but none can be elected  
> officials, their staff, or registered lobbyists.  Maps must be  
> drawn according to strict principles, which include maintaining  
> town boundaries to the maximum extent feasible, grouping towns and  
> neighborhoods according to common qualities, drawing compact lines  
> of continuous territory, nesting smaller districts within larger  
> ones, and of course equal population.  In order to accomplish this,  
> the Independent Redistricting Commission may use demographic  
> information from the Census, but voting history, party  
> registration, and the addresses of any individual CANNOT be used.
>
> All of the commission’s actions must be public and all records  
> available for review. Citizens may submit maps of their own and the  
> Commission’s proposals will be available for public comment before  
> they are referred to the Legislature for a vote.  Like the system  
> used in Iowa, our proposal gives the legislature the ability to  
> approve or reject, without amendment, up to three different plans.   
> All along, the legislature and the public will be able to offer  
> suggestions.  The fourth plan would become law without approval.   
> In Iowa, which has had a similar process for 30 years and three  
> redistricting cycles, the first or second plan has always been  
> accepted.
>
> Redistricting commissions have worked well in other states and they  
> can work here in Massachusetts.  Eleven states conducted  
> redistricting through a commission in 2002, and the average  
> competitiveness of the districts, 70.4 percent, was significantly  
> higher than the roughly 50 percent produced by legislative bodies.  
> Compare that data to Massachusetts’ competitiveness rate of around  
> 30 percent-- at least until the last election, where it was just  
> below the national average.  On the Congressional side, Iowa had  
> more competitive races than California, New York, and Illinois  
> combined, despite the latter states having 20 times more seats.
>
> At stake here is the very health of our democracy.
>
> Massachusetts pioneered the practice of political gerrymandering  
> and we can be one of the first states to end the practice. We  
> pledge today to wage a spirited and visible campaign to collect  
> 100,000 signatures and to ultimately enact this important reform.
>
> ###
>