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ANDREA NEAL: It's never too late for redistricting reform

The Indianapolis Star
March 31, 2010

The 2010 legislature came and went without reforming the redistricting process, but lawmakers aren't off the hook. If electoral maps to be drawn in 2011 are to have any credibility with voters, legislators will have to follow a more transparent and honest process than has been used before.

As required every 10 years after the census, the next General Assembly will draw state legislative and congressional districts. Voters should pin candidates down on this issue before the fall elections. Anyone who refuses to make a "no gerrymandering" promise doesn't deserve to be elected.

Gerrymandering has been around forever, but the computer age has aggravated its anti-democratic traits. All it takes is good software, political data and the voting histories of citizens, and legislative districts can be designed that will favor one party at the expense of the other indefinitely.

Read the full column.