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In response to Charles Lile’s letter on Feb. 19th: Established voting district lines remain established only until data from the preceding census necessitates the drawing of new lines due to population shifts. This is both necessary and a Constitutional requirement relating to the apportionment rule. Gerrymandering congressional districts is neither new nor unique and is practiced by both political parties, rightly or wrongly, in every state of the Union.
I would caution against the use of hyperbole, rhetoric and/or baseless claims relating to disenfranchisement. Let me be clear — nobody will lose their ability to vote as a result of redrawing district lines. This will never and cannot legally happen under any circumstance; however, it may be true that certain demographic/constituency groups or a particular political party may have the collective weight of their vote diminished. It would be utterly impossible to redraw lines in such a way that the new lines would benefit all people of all constituency groups and all political parties. The redrawn lines will always favor the political party in control of the state legislature.
Having said all that, I have heard of no plans to redraw the state’s congressional lines at this time. It is hard to imagine why the Republican-dominated legislature would again redraw the state’s congressional lines when all five of the state’s district seats currently belong to Republicans. Perhaps there is concern the state’s legislative district lines are going to be redrawn; however, state legislative lines have absolutely nothing to do with the electoral college. In fact, even the redrawing of the state’s congressional lines has absolutely no impact on the function of the electoral college.
May I suggest that Mr. Lile’s concerns are unfounded and based upon misinformation.
FROSTON BACK
Muskogee
Opinion
February 23, 2013
THE PEOPLE SPEAK — Concerns unfounded, rely on misinformation
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