Currently the U.S. Supreme Court will be considering two cases involving gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is the practice of establishing political advantage for a party or group by manipulating election district boundaries.
These practices, and the need for fair redistricting instead, are huge issues that are fast emerging that we citizens can, in fact, need to address. Fair redistricting goes to the core of our democracy and without it we are not fairly represented. We need to push for legislative redistricting reform.
If politicians draw up maps that assure their party wins, then our ability as citizens and voters to provide input is severely limited. We must ensure that legislative and congressional lines are drawn that are accountable, transparent and impartial.
Voters, not just Democrats or Republicans, but third party and unaffiliated voters as well, need to be heard. We all should be able to comment on how the district maps are drawn.
What you can do is call your state legislators and demand they support setting up an independent citizen redistricting commission that is transparent and allows citizen input.
If you want to get more involved, you can join organizations that are fighting for more truly representative redistricting, such as Fair Districts New Jersey, for example.
Fair Districts New Jersey is a nonpartisan coalition whose sole focus is redistricting reform that allows more citizen input into the process by bringing an independent citizens commission to New Jersey.
Margaret S. Beekman
Freehold Township
