State Rep. Timothy Wesco, R-Osceola, is using his position as chair of the House Committee on Elections and Apportionment to kill a bill that would make your vote really count in Indiana.
While in South Bend recently, he offered the latest reason for refusing to give Senate Bill 105 a hearing.
He said language in the redistricting reform bill allows mapmakers to ignore its requirements — and therefore, it should not be passed. That language reads: “The general assembly may consider and adopt modifications to the initial proposed plans that deviate from the standards set forth in this chapter as long as the reason or reasons for each deviation are publicly explained and documented.”
If Wesco had met with reform advocates, who have been trying to schedule a meeting with him for weeks, he would know that this language is there for a good reason: not all districts can fulfill all of the reform standards equally. In some cases strict adherence to the standards may even do harm to voters, such as violating the Voting Rights Act by “packing” minority voters into a single district.
The language gives mapmakers flexibility, while giving the redistricting process more transparency than ever.