Equal representation
By Annie Betancourt
Once the decadal Census is completed, the process begins of drawing the boundaries of the legislative districts that have emerged or changed as a result of changes in population distribution.
Being a state of rapid growth, Florida almost always increases its seats in the U.S. Congress, thus getting the opportunity to redraw its legislative districts. During this process, legislators make deals and reach agreements behind closed doors, so that each district contains the voters each lawmaker prefers.
At present, the Florida Constitution does not address this serious conflict of interest and allows politicians to draw districts that keep elections from being fair and competitive.
The result of these deals and shenanigans is a collection of oddly shaped districts, districts that snake, dividing and combining communities with the sole purpose of capturing the specific voters who allow the politicians to retain their posts. Often these districts are more than 150 miles in size.
In November, voters will have the opportunity to improve the redistricting process. By voting YES on Amendments 5 and 6, the Fair Districts Amendments, the citizen votes in favor of reforming our outdated system of redistricting and forcing politicians to give up this kind of conflict of interest.
It is not surprising that opposition to the amendments is led by a group of Florida legislators who don’t wish to follow any rules. These politicians oppose Amendments 5 and 6 to protect their own interests and have invented arguments to distract voters. Fearful of losing the power to manipulate their districts, they try to scare voters by suggesting that the adoption of Amendments 5 and 6 somehow will reduce the political representation of minorities. The press has called those allegations “misleading.”
In fact, Amendments 5 and 6 will add to the Constitution of Florida new protections for voters. The amendments make it clear that districts cannot be created to “reduce” the political power of linguistic or racial minorities. The language of the amendment ensures that redistricting cannot be used by politicians to reduce the representation or impact of minorities at the polls. The assertion that the amendments will reduce the representation of minorities is an effort to blind the voters to the real problem, i.e., that politicians draw the districts behind the electorate’s back to serve their own political ambitions.
Florida citizens should not be fooled by these arguments from selfish politicians. Their lies show how much they want to cling to power, even at the expense of voters. They are willing to do anything to protect their seats and retain control of a rigged system. We cannot fall into a trap of false arguments. Just read the amendments to understand that we must vote YES on Amendments 5 and 6, the Fair Districts Amendments.
Annie Betancourt is vice president of the League of Women Voters of Florida. She was Florida state representative until 2002, when she ran for U.S. Congress against Mario Diaz-Balart, who using the existing system, drew up his own district (District 25) when, based on the census of 2000, two seats were added to the group of Florida legislators.
