OPINION:
I’m all for states’ rights and hope that we’re headed for sound limits on the federal government’s power and size. Indeed, the 10th Amendment made such limits fundamental. But big government liberals undermined that amendment, and today our aimless, wayward courts ignore it.
Although states’ rights might seem to oppose banning gerrymanders, I don’t think they do. The left likes gerrymanders, arguing (uncharacteristically) that states should retain the power to draw them. Lately, however, it has come to light that gerrymanders cheat not only state voters, but voters nationwide. They choke off the rival party’s numbers in the House of Representatives and bias the Electoral College.
These distortions, as we now see, account for the Democratic Party’s uncanny grip on national, state and local governments — out of all proportion to its dwindling approval ratings.
We need a constitutional amendment requiring states to draw unbiased electoral districts. Supporting such an amendment will be hard for our elected representatives, enamored as they are of the power that gerrymandering gives them. But an amendment might stand a glimmer of a chance after next year’s midterm elections. Emphatic public opinion might make the difference.
JOHN S. MASON JR.
Irvington, Virginia
Please read our comment policy before commenting.