What will you do to reform the redistricting system in this country, which has led to most seats in Congress being so safe that even a major shift in public opinion won't be reflected in an election.

What will you do to reform the redistricting system in this country, which has led to most seats in Congress being so safe that even a major shift in public opinion won't be reflected in an election.
Asked by: Barbara Knapp from Germantown, MD

Asked of All U.S. Representatives on Jan 4th, 2008

Categories: Money & Politics. Tags: government · politics.

Answer from: U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX)

Well as you know the way this is done, it's really handled by the state legislature. The state legislature, every year right after the census is done, will go ahead and consider the reapportionment. I served in the state legislature 14 years, one year as Secretary of State, so I went through one redistricting as a state legislator and then another one as Secretary of State, so it is something we need to look at because there have been in certain circumstances, even here in the state of Texas, where it got too partisan. The Supreme Court actually--my district was one of the ones that got affected because it was just too partisan and it affected community of interest. There are some proposals out there that some states have looked at and that is setting up an independent commission. This independent commission would sit down and do the lines. That is one option available is having some sort of independent commission where it is not done by the state legislature.

Answered on Apr 22nd, 2008

Answer from: U.S. Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT)

It’s not unconstitutional to protect incumbents. It is unconstitutional to deny people a vote based on race or other factors that should not be a matter of discrimination. The role of Congress in redistricting is rather limited and it goes to those Constitutional questions relating to equal access to voting. The real issue for redistricting is a state issue and, yeah, there’s a lot of antagonism about how states are doing it. The recent California redistricting was one of the most interesting I’ve ever seen. It was all about incumbency, Democrat and Republican, and not at all about and not at all I think about some of the more important issues.

Answered on Apr 4th, 2008