NYT OpEd: Schwarzenegger vs. Gerrymander

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Schwarzenegger vs. Gerrymander
By STEVEN HILL

Published: February 19, 2005


San Francisco — GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER visited Washington this week in part to solicit support for his proposal to change the way California draws its legislative districts. His efforts are commendable, and his plan won an endorsement from Common Cause, the government watchdog group. But his plan is unlikely to achieve his goals because it does not account for the realities of California's demographic landscape.

Governor Schwarzenegger and others are proposing that redistricting be taken out of the hands of the incumbents and given to an independent body, like a panel of impartial retired judges. Yet several states already use independent commissions, and the results are not encouraging. More

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/19/opinion/19hill.html

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