Texas Legislature May Tackle Redistricting Issue

The Texas Legislature will be meeting soon, and lawmakers are already lining up to get their bills on the docket. Among other items to be considered is a bill seeking to stop naked power-plays like the redistricting that was pushed by the disgraced former U.S. House Rep. Tom DeLay. DeLay, now facing criminal charges for campaign and money violations, engineered an effort in 2003 that redrew Texas House districts to favor the Republican party.

State Rep. Allan Ritter [D-Nederland] has proposed a constitutional amendment. His proposed amendment would ban any redistricting efforts except in the year following the U.S. census, unless ordered by the courts. Ritter said, "Redistricting is always a partisan battle, but it shouldn't be a decade-long battle."

Other politicians also have ideas to prevent the DeLay tactics. Senator Jeff Wentworth [R-San Antonio] and Rep. Mark Strama [D-Austin] say they will re-introduce a proposal to take redistricting out of the hands of politicians. They want to put the once-a-decade redistricting in the hands of a non-partisan panel.

Personally, I like both proposals. I hope there is enough support in the legislature to get the changes made. The rules governing our political elections and representation should not be "fixed" by politicians like DeLay so that they favor one political party over another.

In a representative democracy, all parties must be given an equal chance, and not hamstrung by partisan rules favoring any party. Anything else is un-democratic.