A good-government measure went down in flames in committee yesterday when a House of Delegates subcommittee voted against establishing a bipartisan commission to oversee redistricting.
Ideally, voting districts are supposed to be “compact” and “contiguous,” as well as of roughly equal population size.
But Virginia politicians are not immune to the temptation of drawing districts to include, or exclude, certain populations of voters in ways that help them get re-elected. It’s a trick called gerrymandering.
The party in power can augment the voting strength of supporters or dilute the impact of voters of the opposing party, depending on how they draw the boundary lines. The results can help one politician remain in power, while stripping another of support.
And over the last several decades, Virginia politicians have come up with some strangely shaped districts to do just that.
Districts should be configured to best serve the voters, not the politicians.
A bill sponsored by Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, would have turned the redrawing of boundaries over to a bipartisan commission. The panel would have been composed of three members appointed by each of the two major parties and a seventh member elected by these six.
That was about as fair, and as mild, a reform as one could imagine.
But the politicians don’t want even that.
A House subcommittee killed the measure along partisan lines, 4-2.
Among the four Republicans opposing it was R. Steven Landes, R-Weyers Cave, who represents part of Albemarle County. Mr. Landes’ district takes in pieces of Rockingham and Augusta counties, then interestingly loops over the Blue Ridge to lasso Crozet.
There’s one small upside to this vote: At least we know who cast those votes.
In recent years the prevailing party had instituted a procedural rule designed to mask subcommittee action, reporting the final result but not the individual votes.
Repeated backlash against this lack of accountability eventually brought a return of the recorded vote.
Mr. Deeds — whose own district is forced to climb several mountains and spans from Charlottesville to the West Virginia line — has introduced his reform measure for seven years running now. Give him credit for tenacity.
Opponents so far have been equally tenacious. But maybe good government will eventually win out. Maybe repeated backlash against House politicians for helping themselves instead of their constituents will also have a salutary effect someday.
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