Minnesota - the North Star of Fair Play
To be fair, can we all agree leaders should not choose their voters
introducing
The Fair Play Amendment Idea
Across all districts and all people,
The best district map is the one where people have the lowest average distance to the center of their district.
written by Jim Pokorney
Northfield, MN
based on idea developed by
Brian Olson
Right now, politicians can redraw their own districts to keep power. This is called Gerrymandering and it is currently in process in Texas and California. Could it happen in a future Minnesota?
Gerrymandering is like letting the best shooter move the 3-point line or the tallest player raise the hoop.
Minnesotans know: that’s not fair play.
We all know, rules come before the players.
But when politicians draw their own districts, they’re writing the rules for themselves — picking winners before the game even starts.
That’s not democracy, it’s rigging the system.
Minnesotans believe in fair play, not self-dealing.
A Minnesota Constitutional Amendment to:
Direct the re-districting process mandated every 10 years to employ a simple, non-political math rule: using census data, each district must be contiguous and equal in population (current requirements), and shaped so that on average, people live as close as possible to the center of their district (new requirement).
In Minnesota, politicians should not choose their voters. The voters should delegate that job to a higher power - mathematics!
Fair and Competitive elections. Districts will no longer be drawn to guarantee partisan outcomes.
Politicians will have to serve the needs of all their constituents — be they left, right, or center.
Compromise becomes the new name of the game: leaders must focus on what policies work best for their districts composed "of the people".
Minnesota will become the North Star of Fair Play by ensuring a solid foundation for our democratic and, of course, always highly political governing process.
This non-political redistricting idea is based on work done by Brian Olson, a software engineer located in Massachusetts. In his 3 minute TED Talk he explains his redistricting idea and how it works. His algorithm is open source and is relatively easy to understand and implement.
In the Minnesota process, it would be reasonable to encourage the computer science programs at Minnesota colleges and universities to compete to develop the legislature approved re-districting algorithm based on the rules outlined in the amended constitution.
Below is Mr. Olson's maps for Minnesota's Congressional and State House districts based on 2010 census data.. His Senate districting methodology was incorrect because he didn't add the Minnesota rule that each Senate district is composed of two adjoining districts so I did not include that map. This Senate requirement would be easy to implement and is included in the draft amendment change.
PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE MN STATE CONSTITUTION
Amendment Summary
This amendment requires all Congressional, House, and Senate districts to be drawn by a single mathematical rule using U.S. Census data. Districts must be contiguous and equal in population, and boundaries are set so that, on average, people live as close as possible to the center of their district. This process removes politics from redistricting, creating fair districts that reflect all voters simply by where they stand.
Whereas, fair impartial districts are a boon to the good functioning of democracy; and
whereas, redistricting has been abused around the nation to distort the democratic process and entrench the power of political parties; and
whereas, we believe that a simple mathematical formula for what a good district is shall be the most reliable generator of fair impartial districts for the foreseeable future,
We do hereby submit for ratification this amendment to the Constitution of the State of Minnesota:
Proposed Change in Minnesota Constitution
(UNDERLINE is additional text, CROSS OUT is removal of text)
MINNESOTA CONSTITUTION - ARTICLE IV - LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT
Section 3. Census enumeration apportionment; congressional and legislative district boundaries; senate districts.
1) At its first session after each enumeration of the inhabitants of this state made by the authority of the United States, the legislature shall have the power to prescribe the bounds of congressional and legislative districts.
2) To fairly and impartially determine these bounds, the legislature shall accept proposed district maps for a time of six months following the availability of new deci-annual US Census data. They shall accept proposed districts from any citizen of the State but may limit the number of submissions to a reasonable number and shall specify a reasonable format for receiving the district maps so as to expedite processing.
3) At the end of that period the State congressional and representative district maps shall be chosen that:
a. Have contiguous districts; and
b. Have equal population across all districts to within one two hundredth of the average district population; and
c. Have the lowest average straight-line distance per person from the geographic centers of the districts to the people within them.
4) Senators shall be chosen by single districts of convenient contiguous territory formed by the union of two contiguous representative districts. Each senate district shall be defined so that, across the state, the combined area of the two representative districts deviates as little as practicable from the average combined area of all senate districts. No representative district shall be divided in the formation of a senate district. The senate districts shall be numbered in a regular series.
Steps to Change the Minnesota Constitution
Legislature approves – Majority vote in both House and Senate.
Ballot question – Amendment goes to voters at the next general election.
Voter approval – Must get a majority of all voters in the election (not just those marking the question).
Adoption – If approved, it becomes part of the Constitution.
Next Step
I created this website to initiate a process for Minnesotans to first image and then take control of their democracy before they enter the voting booth. There are many groups, along with the DFL and the MN Republican Parties themselves, that could individually or as a team do the heavy lifting to make the amendment a reality. I can help, but a bigger group needs to take this on to make this needed change as soon as possible.
Groups of Interest to support a change
League of Women Voters MN
Common Cause MN
Minnesota Voice
Voices for Racial Justice
Minnesota Council on Foundations
FairVote Minnesota
Clean Elections Minnesota
Institute for Law and Politics
TakeAction Minnesota
MPIRG
and, of course, many others on both sides of the aisle.