Once again, we have witnessed the ugly spectacle of politicians
carving up our state into legislative districts, gerrymandered to
ensure that a candidate of a specific race or political party
will be elected. Will it ever end? After all, the people are
supposed to pick the politicians, not the other way around! Well,
since hope springs eternal, let me present a simple plan for
re-districting that would put an end to gerrymandering and the
consequent political favour-currying.
Currently, the
Alabama legislature consists of 35 Senators and 105
Representatives. Both houses are elected by the people of their
districts, thus duplicating one another and differing only in
their geographical size. Counties, cities, and even
neighbourhoods are carved up by political bosses into
fantastically-contorted districts that protect the power of a
favoured constituency. Counties have no representation in the
legislature, and lacking home-rule, are at the mercy of
legislators who often live several counties away. Our current
system is a model of corruption and confusion. It needs a
complete overhaul and restructuring along the lines laid down by
the Framers of the U.S. Constitution.
The U.S.
Constitution provided for Congress to consist of two houses, the
same as our state legislature. The difference is that while the
U.S. Senate consists of two senators from each state,
Alabama’s senate consists of 35 senators, each of whom
represents an oddly-shaped multi-county district. In order to
give counties a greater role in state government, and to ensure
that senators are familiar with the counties they represent, each
of Alabama’s 67 counties should have equal representation
in the senate, preferably with senators being appointed by county
commissions rather than elected. This is in keeping with the U.S.
Constitution, which originally specified that U.S. Senators were
to be appointed by the state legislature. The intent behind
appointment rather than election by the people was to ensure that
the senator represented the interests of the state (or county, in
this case) against the larger governmental unit.
The House is
popularly-elected and intended to represent the people on the
basis of population. For the House, each district will consist of
a single county. In order to balance representation by
population, the more populous counties will have more
representatives, but each county will have at least one
representative. For example, a sparsely-populated county like
Macon would have one representative, while Jefferson County might
have 10. One representative for every 30,000 people might be a
reasonable figure to use. Representatives could be elected
at-large within their counties, eliminating gerrymandering on a
smaller scale within the county. Because all districts would
coincide with county lines, there would be little confusion about
what district a voter was located in or who his representatives
are. 
Proportional
representation or instant run-off voting would work well with
such a system. In any case, districts would be simple, sensible,
and understandable. This plan is racially-unbiased, treats all
parties fairly, and most importantly, IT MAKES SENSE! That
being the case, there is little chance of the Alabama Legislature
adopting such a sensible plan unless strongly-pressured to do so
by the voters.
I cannot take
credit for this plan, as it was conceived by Rep. E.C. Boswell of
Geneva, who proposed it in 1945.* We've had the solution to
this gerrymandering mess for 55 years; isn't it about time we
stopped litigating and deal-making and adopted a fair and
permanent solution like the Boswell plan? Efforts by those making
proposals to rewrite the Alabama Constitution would be better
spent addressing the serious problems created by gerrymandering
and the loss of real representation due to population increases
rather than trying to raise taxes under the guise of
“constitutional reform.”
*Alabama Policy Bulletin #14: Report of the
Thirteenth Annual Policy Conference on Democracy and the
Constitution, published in Montgomery, Alabama; April 14,
1945, by the Alabama Policy Committee.
