Redistricting: The people should own the map, not the politicians

Darkly mirroring the polarization and antagonism that prevails in Washington, D.C., in many states and in Albany, Mineola’s elected officials have now waded into arguably the most tendentious and consequential area of political debate: redistricting.

Voters throughout the county elect representatives to the 19 seats in the County Legislature, one representing each of 19 geographical districts. After the census is conducted every 10 years, district boundary maps are redrawn to most accurately reflect population movements within the county, especially changes in areas where minorities live, to ensure fair and adequate representation in the Legislature.
The same redistricting process is undertaken at the state level, which affects state and congressional districts.

Redistricting is always, understandably, a political issue. Each party wants to preserve or enlarge its electability in a given district. Each party is fierce in defending its strongholds and in its desire to change the district borders to include voters in adjacent districts who would likely support it, and so increase its power.

The problem lies in who gets to redraw the district lines.

The Republicans, who hold more of the 19 seats than the Democrats, believe they are in charge of changing the district borders, in spite of what Democrats say. Since the GOP is in the majority, they have the votes in the Legislature to do what they want. The plan they propose is a blatant power grab, and would consolidate Republican control in as many “safe” districts as possible.

Reasonable people who aren’t politically inclined wonder why decisions like this, which have such potential for gerrymandering and abuse of power, wouldn’t be better made by a nonpartisan group of people interested only in having a fair and good government.

That’s exactly what the law calls for, according to the Legislature’s Democratic minority, which says it allowed such a commission to undertake redistricting in 2003, the last time it was done in Nassau County.

But Presiding Officer Peter Schmitt, a Republican from Massapequa, says his redistricting plan, which — no surprise — would increase the GOP’s strength and dilute the Democrats’, is all we need. There will be one hearing in Mineola on May 9 on the new map, and that will be that.

Really?

We think that the citizens of Nassau County — Republicans, Democrats, independents and those not much interested in politics at all — should be outraged at such an obnoxious, unlawful, blatant power grab and should demand that redistricting be carried out by an independent commission.

Obviously, Legislator Schmitt believes voters don’t care or aren’t paying attention. Let him know what you think. We just have.