Letter: Gerrymandering doesn’t have a simple solution
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January 31, 2018
Editor’s note: This letter to the editor is in response to an earlier piece called “Sinclair: Gerrymandering has to end.”
Although I agree with the author’s wish to end gerrymandering, I would like to point out that the solution is not simply writing an algorithm as he proposes.
What the author fails to mention is the fundamental problem with drawing a district: How do we decide to group people? Should it be strictly geographical? Should liked people be grouped together or distributed evenly? How can you draw districts to be 50/50 when the state is not, and is that even fair to the majority?
No simple answer exists for these questions because they are based on fundamental beliefs in how government should work, and are often seen only in how they help one’s party.
My point is not to harp the author; as I said I enjoyed his well thought out, timely article. Free and fair elections are essential to democracy, but there is no simple way to create and enforce these free and fair elections. I ask that people try to see these problems that are so essential to our democracy without the blinders of party allegiance.
