Drawn to change

A politically diverse group smartly points out that 2007 is an ideal time to fix how voting lines are drawn in this state

In the rough and tumble of North Carolina politics, it no doubt makes sense to the legislators who run things in Raleigh that they should bend General Assembly and U.S. House districts to suit their fancy. It's gerrymandering, of course, but it maintains the Democrats' majority on Jones Street, and it throws Republican members of Congress a big enough political bone to keep most everyone happy.

Here's what it looks like from Main Street to Mr. and Mrs. Average Voter, who expect the legislature to do what's right -- not just what's in the members' political self-interest -- when carrying out their constitutional duties.

It looks like party over the interests of ordinary people. It looks like a craving for power at any cost, even when it's voters who pay the price of not having legitimate competition in state and national legislative races. In next week's general election, for example, only about half of the state House and Senate seats are contested, largely because districts are drawn in a way that discourages challengers from even filing.

It looks like a Jones Street Club that cares more about the prerogatives of its members than about the people who trusted them enough to send them to Raleigh. It looks like legislators taking advantage of their position, instead of guarding the integrity of the redistricting task. It looks like long, bitter court battles after every U.S. Census (the census triggers redistricting in every state).

To any North Carolinian paying attention, it looks cheap and ugly.

The temptation to gerrymander is strong. Yet 12 states have solved the dilemma by shifting to appointed, independent redistricting commissions. The idea has been proposed in North Carolina before, but legislators have managed to ignore it.

This year, a group representing diverse perspectives is urging the switch to an independent commission. The group's makeup -- for instance, former U.S. Reps. Bill Cobey, a Republican, and I.T. "Tim" Valentine, a Democrat, both well-known party leaders -- sends a powerful message that redistricting abuses are troubling to people across party and ideological lines.

There won't be the pressure next year of state or congressional elections, so cool legislative heads could push a commission across the goal. The non-partisan group sensibly recommends that lawmakers study how commissions operate in other states and fashion one that fits North Carolina. A goal ought to be to eliminate the infamous "bug splatter" districts whose sprawling, convoluted boundaries serve no purposes other than pure partisan advantage and incumbent protection.

True, it is impossible to squeeze politics entirely out of redistricting. But a committee made up of non-politicians trusted by most North Carolinians would go a long way towards returning balance and integrity to the process.