SB 534

     SB 534 proposed to amend Article V, Section 14, of the Montana Constitution by revising the criteria for legislative and congressional districts. Specifically, the bill proposed the following additional criteria: “All districts shall comply with the United States constitution. The geographical integrity of any city, town, county, or community of interest shall be preserved in a manner that minimizes their division to the extent possible without violating any of the requirements of this subsection. Communities of interest do not include relationships with political parties, incumbents, and political candidates. In establishing districts, the commission may not consider any data pertaining to the political affiliation of electors or prior election results.” In short, the bill proposed to bar the use of political data while drawing political maps. I voted against this constitutional amendment because redistricting is inherently and unavoidably partisan.

     Proponents of this constitutional amendment argued that the state’s independent redistricting commission is too partisan and that there should be no partisan politics in redistricting. But nonpartisan redistricting is wishful thinking. There are about 11 states that use some form of independent redistricting commission or panel like Montana. The legislatures of almost all of the remaining states are responsible for the redistricting for their respective states. Whether it is done by a commission or the legislature, redistricting is an inherently partisan process because it determines which party is likely to win a particular seat. So, even if the commissioners are not allowed to use political data, it is hard to believe that they will not be influenced by their own partisan biases and political knowledge in drawing the districts.