In
a closely watched decision, the Supreme Court upheld the vast majority
of Tom DeLay's infamous re-redistricting of the state's congressional
map on June 28th. While the Court conceded that one of the
Congressional districts needed to be redrawn as it violated the rights
of Hispanic voters there, it rejected the larger claim that the Texas
Republicans had unconstitutionally engaged in partisan gerrymandering.
In doing so, the high court punted the issue back to Congress and the
political process -- but the courts never were likely to take the kind
of dramatic steps that truly would address the problems associated with
partisan redistricting.Justice Anthony Kennedy declared that the plaintiffs had not �given shape to a reliable standard for identifying unconstitutional political gerrymanders� -- meaning none will likely ever be found. We need the political will to create solutions in the public interest for how to draw district lines, and how to regulate mid-decade redistricting. That effort should start with a drive in Congress to set standards for mid-decennial redistricting and ultimately end with proportional voting.
[FairVote Blog Posts Responding to the Texas Decision]
[National Redistricting Reform Legislation]
[Redistricting Reform Watch - State by State Legislative Analysis]
[Reforms to Enhance Independent Redistricting]
From
1870 to 1980, Illinois elected its state House of Representatives using
cumulative voting. House districts elected three members each. Rather
than awarding all seats to the plurality winner, the majority party
usually won two seats, and the minority party won one. Cumulative
voting made for a diverse legislature, letting minority groups from
African Americans to Chicago Republicans win some seats.