Why is Redistricting Important?

Many people aren’t aware of redistricting — the process of creating legislative districts throughout our state. Redistricting is the threshold issue that determines how much your elected officials listen to you on all other issues, from health care to the economy. That’s why as Indiana’s Chief Elections Officer, I am leading an important discussion to shed light on the way Hoosiers select legislative officials.

Reforming this process is critical to fair and accountable representation and more competitive elections. Without fairly drawn districts, incumbents or political parties can manipulate voters for their own advantage. In Indiana, this process results in many oddly shaped districts that split counties and cities and ultimately diminish the voting power of many communities. Even more, this reform would result in fundamentally less confusion for voters in connecting with their representatives.

I describe Indiana as the “Wild West” when it comes to this process because few laws and parameters are in place that would ensure the districts are drawn to serve you. This is wrong. We should pick our representatives, they shouldn’t pick us. Worse yet, many legislators think that you — Indiana voters and taxpayers — don’t care.

We need to communicate our expectations on this matter. RethinkingRedistricting.com shows how to do this. We have between now and 2011 to show that we expect government to serve us, not the other way around. Reform on this issue determines how much the General Assembly will listen on all the other issues that come after. I look forward to working with you on this important project.