For many, casting a ballot is the epitome of what's right with America. But the ballot is itself becoming the prime piece of evidence of what's wrong with our democracy.

More and more, American elections are fixed. The culprits aren't crooked poll workers, rigged voting machines or party hacks who specialize in suppressing the vote. The perps are the incumbents on the ballot who keep getting closer to gerrymandering a political monopoly for themselves.

I used to write off as intellectually lazy those who whined that their vote didn't count. That refrain often covered up a lack of civic gumption to study up on the candidates and learn enough about the issues to cast an informed vote. No longer.

While I can't yet conclude that marking a ballot is a meaningless gesture, it's hard to deny the negative effects of legislative redistricting and ballot access rules. They have devalued the worth of every vote.

Gerrymandering of election districts and statewide rules that choke the life out of third parties' chances have become so effective that future elections may no longer be decided at the ballot box. They'll be won or lost at the computer terminals that redraw legislative districts after each census.

We're not far from that scenario now.

Nationwide, most polls have Congress' approval rating pegged somewhere around 16 percent. Yet I'll bet a dozen Krispy Kremes that close to 90 percent of congressional incumbents will be returned to office.

At the state level, more than half of North Carolina's 170 legislators are unopposed in Tuesday's general election. This isn't an anomaly: it's a trend. In 2000, the number of uncontested legislative seats stood at 58. This year, it's risen to 86.

And Bob Phillips of Common Cause told me he thinks North Carolina hasn't yet reached the ceiling when it comes to uncontested seats. Because of similar demographics and growth patterns, he expects us to follow the footsteps of Georgia, where roughly two of three legislative races have only one candidate.

Here's more bad news for North Carolina: While 86 legislative seats are already decided, another 68 might as well be, according to good-government types to whom I've spoken. The most optimistic estimate I've heard is that 16 legislative races on Tuesday's ballot are truly competitive.

Think about that. In the election following General Assembly scandals involving the lottery, campaign donation checks with blank payee lines and questionable lobbying practices, only about one in 10 legislators faces a realistic threat of being tossed out.

After months of campaigning and spending money, the reality is that we've only been pretending that it makes a difference.

Is it any wonder that longtime political observers are alarmed by the growing lack of accountability and concentration of power in Congress and at the General Assembly?

Thankfully, when the new session convenes in Raleigh this January, there will be an attempt to fix this mess. The N.C. Coalition for Lobbying Reform has morphed into the N.C. Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform. It has 50 members with very divergent political philosophies. However, they recognize the common threat posed by uncompetitive elections.

This group's involvement could be the key to actually getting something done. Similar legislation introduced by state Sen. Ellie Kinnaird of Orange County and the late Ham Horton of Forsyth County couldn't even get a committee hearing.

If the group has a weakness, it's the lack of agreement on a single reform plan. Phillips said one of the group's primary goals is to start a conversation about redistricting reform. Forget conversation. That's a gold-plated invitation to study-commission oblivion.

The Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform needs to coalesce, not converse. This state desperately needs an independent redistricting commission just as 12 other states have. Having 50 differing opinions on these 12 models won't be productive. The coalition needs to put forth a specific plan and model for North Carolina, if for no other reason than to give legislators a concrete starting point.

The stakes couldn't be any higher. Without meaningful electoral competition and choice, your vote is more and more irrelevant, and the election in which it is cast becomes simply a formality.

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