Watchdog Group Looks to Change Redistricting

 

4/05/05

By Erik Arvidson

Sentinel & Enterprise Statehouse Bureau

 

 

   BOSTON-- A coalition of good-government groups is targeting a process near and dear to the hearts of many state lawmakers: The way in which legislative boundaries are redrawn every decade. Hoping to create a redistricting process that is more open and accountable to the public, the coalition has proposed taking the process out of the hands of legislators and giving it to an independent panel of ordinary citizens.

 

Common Cause Massachusettsand other government watchdog groups say the time is ripe for change in the wake of the federal court ruling that found that lawmakers sacrificed racial fairness to the voters in favor of protecting incumbents when they redrew the districts in 2001. That led to a federal investigation of whether former House Speaker Thomas M. Finneran committed perjury during testimony in a lawsuit over the 2001 redistricting.

 

"This would take the worst kind of politics out of the process," said Pamela Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts. "It will make it more open and allow citizens to give their input. This is how it should be done, not in backrooms where the raw political power is exercised."

 

Wilmot said she believes changing the redistricting process has reached a higher priority level in many states which allow the legislature to decide how to change the districts. Computer programs that guide the redistricting have become more sophisticated and, according to Wilmot, make it easier for incumbent lawmakers to shape their districts to pick up voters most likely to vote for them.

 

"The whole process right now is about what do you want and what don't you want. It's not about how do you best represent the communities of Massachusetts," Wilmot said.

 

Although the Legislature has a Committee on Redistricting, the process largely occurred behind closed doors in 2001. The independent commission would be made up of people who are neither elected to public office or state employees. Members of the commission would not be allowed to run for office for at least ten years after they leave the panel.

 

Wilmot said one key provision is that unlike the current process, the commission would have to do all of its work in public, including holding public hearings and receiving citizen input. The commission would also be subject to open meeting and public records laws.

 

Wilmot said that the Legislature would still retain a role in the redistricting. The bill allows for four members of the commission to be appointed by the Legislature. It also requires that the Legislature approve the commission's redistricting proposal on a straight up or down vote, without amendments.

 

Wilmot noted that this past November, an advisory question was placed on the ballot in 15 House districts asking voters whether they would support creating an independent commission to oversee the redistricting process. The question passed in every district, Wilmot said.

 

The Joint Election Laws Committee will hold a hearing on the bill today. State Rep. Thomas A. Golden Jr., D-Lowell, said the idea of allowing an independent body to draw the legislative districts was appealing.

 

"I think there needs to be more public input. We have a public debate on almost everything that comes through the House, and this should not be different. I do think it s a good idea to have legislators vote on it," Golden said. Golden's 16th Middlesex District is one of several which Common Cause highlight's on its Web site as an example of a district that has been drawn in an irregular way to benefit an incumbent, though Wilmot said there are dozens of such districts.

 

State Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox, said he plans to support the legislation to keep politics out of the decision making.

 

"I think this would allow for truer, fairer districts," Pignatelli said. "It's wise to take it out of the politicians hands and put it in the hands of people on a bipartisan commission."