Measure 55: Redistricting

[October 15th, 2008]

What’s the fuss? Every 10 years the state redraws legislative districts. In some cases, lawmakers’ district boundaries undergo drastic changes while they’re still in office.

What’s the fix? Keep the redistricting process. But change the timing for when the new boundary changes take effect so that they’re not put in place during a lawmaker’s term.

Here’s the deal: Rep. Phil Barnhart was a liberal from South Eugene, elected in 2000 to represent that area and the neighborhoods around the University of Oregon. As a result of redistricting in 2001, he ended up representing a portion of much more conservative Central Oregon for more than half of his first two-year term.

“The result of that system is, we end up with representatives in crazy places,” Barnhart says.

Barnhart’s case is an extreme example. But it is also real. Measure 55, which the Legislature referred to voters, is a technical fix. It doesn’t change anything about the redistricting process. It just changes the timing so representatives who are elected in one district represent that district for the entirety of their term. That’s an overdue fix.