Putting sanity back on map of state districting

When they go to the polls to select lawmakers for the Legislature and the U.S. House of Representatives, Texas voters may be free to choose from the menu of names on the ballot they're handed. But they have no say in the decision that determines the menu - the establishment of boundaries for voting districts.

Drawing the lines for voting obviously has an effect on who gets elected, by restricting the options about who runs and who votes in particular races. So who's in charge of drawing and redrawing the lines? Why, the very legislators in Austin who have been elected via that system!

Incumbents almost always want to get re-elected, and so it's in their interest to put the lines where they think they will derive the most personal advantage or where they think their political party will gain the most - which is how Texas has ended up with a map of districts that often seem hard to justify as cohesive units.

Abilene and San Angelo, for example, are each split between two Texas Senate districts. Unlike Abilene, which is at least unified in one U.S. congressional district, cities such as Amarillo, Midland, Lubbock and San Angelo are now represented by more than one U.S. representative. The lines have been dickered to death.

The way to restore districting sanity in Texas is to take the process out of the hands of the politicians who have been elected as state senators and representatives and who thus have a personal stake in drawing the lines in order to stay in office and benefit their party.

Texas Attorney General Dan Morales, for one, supports the establishment of a bipartisan commission to handle redistricting.

It's a splendid idea.

All it needs is passage by those same legislators in Austin who continue to fight tooth and nail over every square inch of real estate they think will help them or hurt them.

Meanwhile, it's the voters of Texas who are being hurt and asking for help.