|
Florida voters have two ways to test the commitment to democracy of every voting bloc from Tea Party
conservatives to "post-racial" liberals. One: Participate in the 2010 Census. Two: Vote in favor the Fair Districts amendment proposals at the state and federal levels.
For every voter who ever felt disgust with the current state of national, state and local politics, participation in these two acts will send a message louder than a single vote ever could.
Information about the state's population shifts and changing demographics that will come from the
centennial Census is of particular interest to partisan politicians and civil-rights groups who want a sure bet come election time.
"We are concerned that the FairDistricts.org standards will jeopardize voting opportunities for racial and language minorities, be so ambiguous and conflicting that they cannot be applied, and lead to increased litigation," state Sen. Mike Haridopolos said about the upcoming reapportionment process.
Translation: If Florida legislators are forced to redraw voting districts according to the standards proposed by the ballot initiative, all bets are off. And there are plenty of lawyers and special-interest groups willing to lobby, spend and use legal challenges to cement the status quo.
The ballot initiative led by FairDistricts.org has bipartisan support, most notably by Thom Rumberger, a former judge and lifelong Republican who represented the GOP during the 1992 redistricting process. Mr. Rumberger has drawn on his insight to urge voters of all stripes to re-think the representative government process in Florida from the ground up.
"Minorities and demographically similar groups are either 'stacked' into a single district or 'cracked' into numerous ones; either way, their influence with the policymakers sent to Tallahassee and Washington is undermined and diminished," he wrote in a Feb. 18, 2009 Tallahassee Democrat My View.
"Quite simply, redistricting in its current form operates to keep those in power in power, be they Republican or Democrat," wrote Mr. Rumberger.
Decades of choosing the safe route have led us to where now stand: with bitter partisanship battles at the national level, and a state budget crisis that has been hewn and presided over by one party alone. As the political pendulum that swept President Obama into office swings in the opposite direction, leaving many voters unmoored, the Census and the initiative paradoxically loosen age-old control of special political, minority or language districts.
To complete a Census form and vote yes on the FairDistricts.org ballot initiative is to take a risk in terms of "safe seats" that have been historically held by a minority or a member of one political party. Doing so will challenge would-be legislators and members of Congress to work harder, listen more closely and get to know constituencies to whom they've never had to give much consideration. It will require voters to read and research more, to ask more questions and even to consider changing their voting behavior to send the very best representation to our state and national capitals.
|
