Lerner: How to redistrict Nassau

There's a hostage situation in Nassau County.

Thousands of citizens have been turned into victims of the ceaseless self-interest of Republicans and Democrats in the County Legislature. Redistricting has become the excuse for a political shoving match, with Nassau County's most vulnerable residents caught in between. It's like standing in the middle while two muggers fight over who gets your wallet and who gets your watch. What's going on?

Drawing new legislative district lines occurs every 10 years to adjust for changes in the population and assure accurate representation of the electorate. Yet, on the eve of Independence Day, Nassau appears to be in the midst of a hostile takeover.

The father of our Constitution, James Madison, believed that the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness spelled out in the Declaration of Independence was more likely to be violated by those in power -- "by gradual and silent encroachments" as he once said -- than by "violent and sudden usurpation." That's why he took pains to protect the rights of individuals to choose their government. The principle of redistricting appears right up front in Article 1, Section 2, immediately after Madison defines how Congress shall be apportioned. It is as fundamental to our democracy as the First Amendment and other principles that restrict the power of Congress over individual liberty.

This July Fourth, the Temporary Districting Advisory Commission would do well to read up on the Constitution. Just last week, at a hearing held by the commission in Mineola, members deadlocked along party lines on what criteria to use when drawing the maps. They voted without hearing from the public first, explaining that "public comments are gratuitous." Perhaps it's refreshing to hear politicians dispense with any pretense about democracy: They just disregarded the numerous members of the public waiting to speak and the voters entirely.

Despite the current sideshow, the commission charged with drawing new electoral lines can in fact reward voters with the democracy they deserve by adhering to a set of straightforward good-government criteria and procedures, making up for the lack of guidance in the county charter.

Nothing keeps the Temporary Districting Advisory Commission from setting sensible, objective redistricting criteria that exceed minimum legal requirements. Massachusetts' State Legislature did just that earlier this year when a legislative committee redrew that state's maps to general acclaim. In the state and federal redistricting process here in New York, Common Cause/NY produced non-gerrymandered maps, demonstrating that there is no practical impediment to producing fair maps, only political ones.

So we recommend that the commission expressly adopt the following principles in drawing district lines:

Keep districts relatively the same size to maintain the principle of one person one vote.

Comply with the federal Voting Rights Act.

Respect communities of interest defined by demographic, geographic and other characteristics, and avoid unnecessarily cutting up school districts, villages and towns.

Adhere to traditional redistricting factors, like contiguity and compactness, applying those terms as most commonly understood.

Follow an "incumbent blind" process, meaning that the political affiliation and needs of the incumbent don't affect the district lines.

It's also essential, particularly after the bitter partisan fighting and litigation of the past year, for Nassau County's process to be transparent, and for citizens to have an opportunity for meaningful input. The commission shouldn't vote on any matter before hearing from the public. It should conduct truly open hearings; maintain a website for the public to see maps, submit comments and proposals; provide citizens with the data it uses to draw maps; and require all communications to its members to be on the record.

Districts lines drawn according to these criteria and procedures would end the incessant internecine warfare over redistricting and allow the process to serve the constituency for which it was intended: the public.

Susan Lerner is the executive director of Common Cause/NY.