Del. Cole: NO to non-partisan redistricting

By: hereinva
Published On: 12/20/2007 1:00:00 PM

Del. Cole (R) 88th, has been recently appointed Chair of the Privileges and Elections Committee. This is VA's House's committee responsible for oversight for all things elections and "guardians" of the electoral process in Virginia.

In a Free Lance Star article Cole proclaims:

""It's a very important committee and very important assignment because we're part of the guardians of the electoral process," he said.

"If people start losing faith in the electoral process they lose faith in government. It's very important that we make sure elections are fair and protect the integrity of the electoral process."

So Cole, acting as "keeper of the faith" in Virginia's electoral process has determined the best way to keep it fair is by non-partisan re-districting processes ? Not so.

In the article Cole continues:

"I know what the argument is, that you want to take politics out of it," he said, but "all it will do is elevate politics to a different level, so I'm not sure you want to put redistricting in the hands of an unelected, appointed group rather than people who are accountable to the voters."

Seems that Cole would benefit from at least considering the option rather than robotically
dismissing non-partisan districting. Guess Cole gets his marching orders from the Speaker of the House.

Here is one states use of non-partisan redistricting: (Iowa)

No system is perfect, and Virginia would benefit from a robust debate on the re-districting process.  
 

Comments



Delegate Cole is feeling his oats.... (Dianne - 12/20/2007 9:14:11 PM)
I would think that Virginia could live by this from your referenced article:

How The Iowa Process Works:  Under chapter 42 of the Iowa Code, enacted in 1980, the Iowa legislature has the final responsibility for enacting both congressional and state legislative district plans.  However, the nonpartisan Legislative Services Bureau starts the process.  The Bureau must develop up to three plans that can be accepted or rejected by the legislature.  

The four criteria for the Bureau's plans, in descending order of importance, are:  
1 - population equality,
2 - contiguity,
3 - unity of counties and cities (maintaining county lines and "nesting" house districts within
    senate districts and senate districts within congressional districts), and
4 - compactness.

Chapter 42 specifically forbids the use of political affiliation, previous election results, the addresses of incumbents, or any demographic information other than population in creating the redistricting proposals.

Of course, Cole wouldn't want non-partisan redistricting -- he might lose his job!