The new Pennsylvania maps are out. One of the cardinal rules of good redistricting is that municipalities should not be split unless absolutely necessary. Obviously some municipalities must be divided–Philadelphia is a good example. Allentown also has more people than a state House district would allow. Bethlehem is already split; some of it is in Lehigh County but most of it is in Northampton County.
How municipalities are divided for redistricting purposes is another matter. Allentown could be divided in such a way that a district would be majority Latino, or Latinos could be split into a number of districts in order to ensure that no district would have a majority of Latino voters.
When California legislative seats were redrawn in California in the early 80s, many San Jose Latinos wanted the East Side to have its own representative. If the districts were drawn that way, the result would have most likely been one Latino district and two Anglo Republican districts in San Jose. I argued that Latino interests would be better served by three Anglo Democrats than one Latino Democrat and two Anglo Republicans. The East Side was split, and we ended up with the three Anglo Dems. (Not that my advice had any influence.)
Was I right? I have no idea. Maybe that Latino Assembly member would have been a better voice. Even when lines are drawn to be contiguous, equal in population, with an effort not to split municipalities, and with map makers who are non-partisan and do their best to be fair, it is still a tough job.
In Pennsylvania, of course, map makers are partisan, gerrymandering the state for their own political purposes. They turn an already tough job into a political farce, and they do it every ten years.
No comments:
Post a Comment