If you read Chad Livengood's article this morning [Redistricting to shift political power ] and thought that the redrawing of legislative districts should be a process open to public view, you weren't alone. Be an empowered citizen and ask your state officials to take the lead on an open and transparent redistricting!
Mandate An Open, Public Redistricting Process To Shape Senate And House Districts - As noted in a January DelCOG-CLNCC press release:
Equal population is required in legislative districts by the U.S. Constitution. Equal elections are also required by the Delaware Constitution. "When such fundamental fairness is the goal of a legislative act, it is important that the citizens feel included." said Frank Sims of the Civic League. "This promotes greater participation in democracy and less alienation in society in general".
[A]s population centers have shifted to the South, many northern voters will be really distressed if they find two members who are very popular winding up in the same district. Being able to participate in the process will give them confidence that it was done fairly.....Districts have to be balanced also by race, political party and ethnicity as much as possible.
This presents a real challenge for the Democratic Party the first time they have controlled the entire process to do it openly.....but it will benefit them to show the public they are committed to good government. Fortunately, the New Castle County Council tried it last time and found no problems in doing so.
Tell your representation that you want to be included. Ask if they will resolve to support an open, public redistricting process!
Click here to find your Legislator (must be registered to vote)
COMPLETE LISTING OF DELAWARE ELECTED OFFICIALS.
The Redistricting Working Group of The Civic League for New Castle County and DelCOG Draft Resolutions for the House and for the Senate:
A RESOLUTION TO MANDATE AN OPEN AND TRANSPARENT REDISTRICTING PROCESS WITH PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.
WHEREAS, the citizens of Delaware are entitled to comment on the redrawing of Legislative district lines as the process unfolds; and
WHEREAS, the migration of more people to the south compared to older residential patterns in this State will require the shifting of more than a few Census Tracts from within their current Representative and Senatorial districts lines to others; and
WHEREAS, not only Legislators, but their constituents, also have strong feelings about the geographic cohesiveness and the partisan balance of districts; and
WHEREAS, citizens should be able to recommend Redistricting Plans for the House and Senate they feel will represent the public interest;
NOW, THEREFORE: BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE/HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THAT the 2010 Redistricting process for the Delaware SENATE/House of Representatives shall be open and transparent;
THAT all drawing of lines or grouping of Census Tracts to produce new Representative Districts shall take place in a public forum with the public being notified no less than 8 days in advance;
THAT Census data for Delaware and the computer program used by the General Assembly shall be available for a reasonable fee to any member of the public who wishes to purchase a copy from the Legislative Council;
THAT opportunities shall be provided for proponents of plans to present them in public to the House and/or the committees or persons charged with the task of Redistricting the House; and
THAT the final plan or plans to be voted on by the House shall be a product of this public process.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislators believe the public can fairly weigh all information that should go into considering how Census Tracts should be grouped and while they may be likely to favor people from their area, they will also be motivated to preserve fundamental fairness for all future candidates.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the objective of redistricting, as established by the United States and Delaware Constitutions, is to make elections equal, and this shall be the goal that drives the process--numerical equality in persons represented per district, along with equality of opportunity for anyone to be elected in districts balanced by party, race and ethnicity.
