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Hope Floats for end to Gerrymandering

Elkanah Tisdale

Bills to stop gerrymandering are enjoying an unusual bout of success in the General Assembly this year. While most pundits still think they'll get shot down, the head of a political training center thinks there's momentum for reform.

Ever since 1812, when Massachusetts governor Eldridge Gerry drew ridicule for his party's attempt to draw a district in the shape of a salamander, the practice has been seen as a scourge of democracy. But could Virginia end it? Bob Gibson, the director of the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership, hopes so.

"Gerrymandering is one of the worst things that a majority party can do to a democracy because it allows the majority to choose their own voters instead of allowing voters to choose their own legislators."

Gibson points to today's gridlock and reminds how the Gerrymander can bite even those it hopes to reward. Last year, Henrico-based Eric Cantor, became the first majority leader ousted from the U.S. House of Representatives in his party's own primary.

"Exactly what happened to Cantor. Cantor was defeated in a majority Republican district that had been Gerrymandered to make it even more Republican."
 
Several bills that would pull partisanship out of the redistricting process have sailed through the Virginia Senate this year, and a new lobbying effort has been launched by a bi-partisan group.

If Virginia 2021 succeeds, Gibson says more voters would get to know their legislators... or at least realize what district they're in.

"Today, they don't know because these districts are squiggly lines that cross 140, 150 miles of Virginia without making any sense to voters."

Five State Senate bills now await action in the House of Delegates. Their fate could be decided as soon as this week.

 

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