​ Colorado's Grand Bargain May Map A US Model For Redistricting

ACROSS COLORADO -- From the Colorado Independent. By Corey Hutchins

Two groups that were readying for a major battle on your ballot in November over how Colorado draws its political lines have laid down their swords and joined forces in a grand bargain they say will end partisan gerrymandering.

The March 27 announcement of this negotiated pact between a group called Fair Districts Colorado and another called People Not Politicians is a stunning turnabout after six months of saber-rattling, and, at times, accusations of bad faith.

The compromise means the two groups have joined behind two new proposed ballot measures they say could end gerrymandering by changing the state Constitution.

"It's truly a remarkable story of cooperation and good will," says Bernie Buescher, a former Democratic Colorado secretary of state and a lawyer who worked on the deal. "Everybody had to put aside their lack of trust based on history and expectations."

At issue is the way Colorado draws its political boundaries for members of Congress and the legislature, which takes place after each 10-year census. If conservatives, progressives, voting rights groups and minority communities back this effort and work successfully to pass it, Colorado could be seen as yet another test tube for state policy nationwide.

Right now, gerrymandering— the practice of drawing political boundaries for partisan gain—is flaring up on the national stage. The practice can have an institutional effect of diluting voting power. If you're a Democrat packed into a district drawn in all directions and created to cram in so many Republicans as to keep a seat safe, you might wonder if your vote really counts. If you're a Republican living in a district that was drawn to make it nearly impossible for a Republican to win, you might feel the same.

That's why in Michigan, a group called Voters not Politicians proposed a ballot measure it says would create a more independent redistricting commission. And progressives and union groups in Missouri have their own ballot measure they say would make drawing political lines less partisan. In Ohio, a group called Fair Districts = Fair Elections started up, and Fair Districts PA is on the ground in Pennsylvania.

The U.S. Supreme Court is also currently deciding whether partisan gerrymandering violates the Constitution. Pennsylvania's Supreme Court recently tore up a congressional map there that was drawn to help Republicans. A similar court case out of Maryland is pending where Democrats stand accused of gerrymandering. Meanwhile, Barack Obama, along with his former attorney general Eric Holder, has made redistricting reform his post-presidency cause.

Here in Colorado, four potential measures were on a collision course for this fall's ballot with campaigns gearing up to fight each other over whose plan would best kill gerrymandering forever in a state with a bitter history on the subject and where each major political party has accused the other of drawing lines to better serve its members.

Read more at the Colorado Independent

Photo by Amtec Staffing for Creative Commons on Flickr.