The United States Supreme Court has punted on issues of partisan gerrymandering this year. They have remanded cases from Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. In short, the Supreme Court has been unwilling to delve into state politics, for right or wrong.
This doesn’t bode well for Indiana voters. Despite what politicians will tell you, Indiana is an exceedingly gerrymandered state. Locally, State Sen. Mike Crider’s District 28 looks like a jagged pan with a handle. That handle reaches into Indianapolis and dilutes its representation. At the spring Legislative Breakfast in Hancock County, Crider, R-Greenfield, stated the difficulty of serving both sectors of his district: the city of Indianapolis and rural counties. He is literally caught in the middle, as his district represents the essence of gerrymandering.
A political map that dilutes a block of voters guarantees the interests of that block will be subservient to the interests of the larger block.
An ideal political map would allow the public servant to advocate for their entire constituency instead of representing some at the expense of others. When there is dilution in a district, choosing sides is inevitable.
Indiana political maps are diluted in two ways. First, although Indiana is fairly evenly divided between Republican and Democrat voters, the lion’s share of seats is held by Republicans because of gerrymandering. Secondly, although most residents in Indiana are non-rural, the majority of office holders in the General Assembly have agricultural roots and leanings.
Over-representation of agricultural interests through gerrymandering is why the Indiana General Assembly has passed such forgiving legislation for industrial agriculture. As an example, factory farms are not responsible for cleaning up their own messes such as a manure pond spill. Citizens foot the bill. And farmers are trusted to self-report abuses.
Congress and the Indiana General Assembly maintain the status quo of supermajorities by drawing their own maps. Before 2010, the Democrats and Republicans made deals to strike a balance when re-districting was done every ten-years after the census. But in 2010, U.S. Rep. Tom Delay from Texas ushered in the Red Map Strategy ensuring Republican supermajorities in Congress.
Indiana followed suit, creating a Republican supermajority in the General Assembly.
An education and lobbying campaign from the Indiana Alliance, a coalition of the League of Women Voters and Common Cause, is underway to persuade the Indiana General Assembly to fairly redraw Indiana political maps after the 2020 census using an independent commission, with limited input from the General Assembly.
But since the Supreme Court has abdicated on gerrymandering cases, lawmakers may assume they can continue with business as usual without fear of the court striking the gerrymandering down. Thankfully, Crider isn’t one of them: he supported a failed redistricting bill last session. If he means it, he will educate and lobby for another fair representation bill in the next legislative session to help ensure its passage.
Failure to create an independent redistricting commission isn’t an option if Indiana is to uphold the ideals of democracy. It is up to voters to demand an independent commission in 2020. It seems a long time away, but the winning candidates in the mid-term election this November will be the ones creating the new maps in 2020. So, begin telling your lawmakers and candidates you want a fair political map drawn by a commission in which diversity is sought; in which applicants are pooled from all qualified Hoosiers; and in which the commission’s actions are transparent. There should be no supermajority of any kind on this commission.
Indiana, it’s time for the fox to quit guarding the henhouse. Let’s make every vote count.
Donna Steele, a retired educator, hails from Alabama and made Hancock County her home in 2011. She can be reached at [email protected].
