The need for impartial redistricting plans

Forty-four states leave the drawing of congressional district lines entirely to their legislatures, which means the plans will favor the political party in power at the time.

Six states (AZ, CA, HI, ID, NJ, WA) give the task to independent or bipartisan commissions.  Three states (FL, IA, ME) have independent bodies to propose plans, which are then subject to legislative approval.    Seven states have populations small enough that they have only one congressional district.

So how does it work out where political parties have the choice?   Not very well.   The 2012 elections is a good test of that.   With the Tea Party in ascendency in 2010, conservatives not only swept into control of the House but also of state governments -- which gave them control of redistricting done in response to the 2010 census.

Thus 2012 showed influence of state legislative majorities in the elections for the U.S. House but not so much in the presidential race.   It led to some interesting divergencies:

Wisconsin:  Obama carried the state, as did Tammy Baldwin, who will be one of the most liberal of the new U.S. Senators.  Democrats received more total votes statewide for Congress -- but due to the way districts are drawn (to concentrate partisan voters in a few districts), the state will have 5 Republicans and 3 Democrats in Congress.

Pennsylvania:  Obama won, as did several Democrats for state offices;  and 83,000 more votes overall for Democrats to Congress.   Yet Republicans will have a 13 to 5 edge in their congressional delegation.

Virginia:   Democrats won nearly 50% of the votes in Congressional races, but will have only 27% of its seats in congress.

Ohio:  Democrats won 48% of the vote, but only 25% of its seats.

This needs fixing.   The House of Representatives, having to be elected every two years, is designed to be the more representative of recent public opinion, as well as the more representative of the relative populousness of states.

Another factor is that this kind of political-target districting also gives an advantage to incumbents.   So, once the Tea Party swept into Congress in 2010, it was not so easy to defeat them.   But a significant number were defeated anyway -- including a close call for Michele Bachmann.

What about a constitutional amendment to overhaul our electoral system:   let's do campaign finance, redistricting, and the electoral college, all in one amendment?

Ralph