Voting & Democracy News

WASHINGTON, June 24 – The Fairness and Independence in Redistricting Act will “take politics and partisanship out of the congressional redistricting process,” representing a major step forwards for democracy, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group said on Wednesday.

Introduced by Representatives Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and John Tanner (D-TN), the new act will set minimum standards that states must follow when redrawing congressional maps. Each state will be required to establish an independent, bipartisan redistricting commission to redraw congressional district lines only once every 10 years following the decennial census.

“The introduction of the FAIR Act is a huge step towards taking the politics and partisanship out of the congressional redistricting process,” explained Lisa Gilbert, Democracy Advocate for the U.S. PIRG.

The commissioners may specifically not consider voting history, effects of incumbents, and the party affiliation of voters when redrawing congressional districts.

Gilbert added that the bill is “in lockstep with current transparency initiatives, and requires the creation of a public Web site to be updated regularly with the most recent, detailed information on each district. The Web site will allow any individual to submit a redistricting proposal, or questions and comments on the process”

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U.S. PIRG is the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups. State PIRGs are non-profit, non-partisan public interest advocacy organizations. For more information on U.S. PIRG’s Fair and Open Elections Campaign click here.