Indiana ranks among the U.S. states that habitually report the lowest voter turnout in the nation. Proposed legislation that passed a House committee last week would all but guarantee the
This is a Republican state. Obviously, the majority of Indiana s congressional and legislative seats will be held by the GOP, so the argument goes. Dig deeper into election results, however, and it s clear the state isn t as Republican as it might appear. Gerrymandered districts give the party in power unfair advantage.
When the Indiana House s Committee on Elections and Apportionment meets Saturday at Ivy Tech Community College s Coliseum campus, lawmakers should hear from voters demanding change. They need to hear calls for a fair and transparent redistricting process. They need to know Hoosiers won t stand for the kinds of maps drawn after the 2010 census, creating congressional districts resistant to any partisan turnover. They need to know voters don t want legislative districts drawn to protect incumbents and discourage competition. More than a third of legislative candidates in 2016 s November election were uncontested.