I'd love to tell you to pay attention to House Bill 1009, but I don't think it's going to be around long enough to matter. After all, it asks the Indiana General Assembly to give up political gerrymandering. Currently, the political party in charge of the legislature at the start of each decade draws the voting maps for General Assembly voting districts. It doesn't always work as planned, but the party in power spends most of its time and energy trying to draw up districts that favor that party.
Under 1009, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Jerry Torr, a bipartisan commission, with a chairman selected by the chief justice of the state Supreme Court, would draw maps that are "compact and contiguous." The commission would not be permitted to consider voting patterns or incumbents' residency. The General Assembly would give final approval of the maps but couldn't tinker with the details.
Elections could then be held for the benefit of the voters instead of the politicians. What a concept. Naturally it will go exactly nowhere.
