A proposed constitutional amendment would be good for incumbent politicians but bad for democracy. New York voters must reject it.
By The Editorial Board
The Albany Times Union
The nation has been consumed by gerrymandering madness, and New York lawmakers, sadly, are eager to join in.
Gerrymandering, the drawing of districts to secure political advantage, is nearly as old as the republic. The term can be traced to Elbridge Gerry, a former Massachusetts governor (and later a vice president) who in 1812 approved a district so weirdly drawn that it looked like a salamander. Gerry-mander. Get it?
In fairness to Mr. Gerry, though, he didn’t invent a practice that is allowed by the U.S. Constitution and heartily embraced by both major parties.
Few politicians, however, have championed gerrymandering so baldly and cynically as President Donald J. Trump, who, desperate for Republicans to retain control of the House, has encouraged GOP state legislatures to redraw districts mid-decade rather than on the usual 10-year cycle. Unfortunately for the health of our democracy, many did. Democratic-controlled states followed suit with blue-leaning maps of their own.
New York Democrats would have joined the fray had it not been for a state constitutional amendment, approved by voters in 2014, that expressly forbids gerrymandering, puts the map in the hands of an independent commission and requires districts to be relatively compact and contiguous.
So state lawmakers have done the next-worst thing: They proposed a new constitutional amendment. Passed by the Legislature in the final days of the session, the measure — if ultimately approved — will ditch the commission, explicitly allow gerrymandered districts and allow maps to be redrawn mid-decade.
That would be a grave mistake. Given what Mr. Trump unleashed, we somewhat understand the impulse and the desire to respond. But the amendment would chase bad after bad, following the president down a corrupt and dangerous path, with an attempted power grab designed to benefit Democratic incumbents at the expense of real choice.
It’s a central precept of democracy: Voters get to choose the politicians who represent them. Gerrymandering turns that on its head, giving politicians the ability to choose their voters — and to evade the electoral competition that holds them accountable. Without choice, participation withers. Elections become meaningless. Democracy crumbles.
The good news here is that there are several opportunities to stop this amendment’s progress. A newly elected Legislature would have to pass the measure a second time next year. And then it would go to New York voters, who would have to approve the change.
By next year, perhaps cooler heads will prevail and lawmakers will call the whole thing off. That doesn’t seem likely, however, because if there’s one thing we know about politicians, it’s that they will almost always seek to accumulate power and protect themselves from electoral competition.
But there’s no reason that voters should go along with the scheme or be tempted by a change that’s not in their best interests.
Yes, Mr. Trump is attempting to game the system. But the best response to an authoritarian-minded president is to do everything possible to protect democracy, rather than rushing to help trash it.
From TimesUnion.com