Redrawing Rules and Boundaries
WASHINGTON — More than a year after a bitter showdown in Texas, Republicans and Democrats are battling elsewhere over the drawing of congressional district lines. And the renewed confrontation could help fuel the drive for redistricting reform in other states, including California.
The latest clash has been triggered by the Republican-controlled state legislature in Georgia, which is about to toss out the congressional districts approved in 2001 and impose a new map that could help the GOP win more U.S. House seats in the state.
When the legislature completes the new map -- possibly as soon as next week -- it will further shred the tradition that states draw such district boundaries only once each decade. And that could ignite a significant escalation in the battle over redistricting.
Democrats are threatening to respond to the Georgia move by seeking to redraft maps more favorable for their party in states where they control the legislature and the governorship, such as Illinois.
"When Texas did it, we looked at it and didn't move on it," said John Cullerton, a Democratic leader in the Illinois state Senate. "But now with Georgia, I sure think it might change the attitude here. As [former Sen.] Paul Simon [D-Ill.] said, you can't play touch football when the other guy is playing tackle."
Such an upsurge in partisan conflict over redistricting, in turn, could provide momentum for efforts to shift control over the process from elected officials to nonpartisan panels. That idea is moving up the agenda in two of the nation's most populous states, with Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger advancing it in California and Democrats promoting it in Florida.
Schwarzenegger is pushing for passage of a bill that would have three retired judges redraw the state's political boundaries in time for the 2006 elections. While the current lines heavily favor incumbents, the judges would strive for political competitiveness in their map.
Although not required by law in most states, the informal prohibition against redistricting more than once a decade has been one of the most durable rules in U.S. politics. States have almost always drawn the lines for congressional and state legislative districts only after the decennial census, which triggers the reapportionment of U.S. House seats based on population shifts.
Practical and partisan arguments have discouraged states from redrawing political boundaries more frequently.
