All Montana’s will have the opportunity to participate in the June 2 primary by mail. County by county, commissioners made the wise choice to protect voters, county staff and poll workers from what I hope will be the remnants of Covid 19.
Last weeks absentee voter and in-person primary in Wisconsin was a mockery of common sense. A Wisconsin legislator was quoted admonishing voters who feared in person participation as experiencing nothing more than picking up a to go order at one’s local restaurant. You think a three hour wait in line and a fast pick-up of dinner are comparable?! The politics of a mail ballot election weighed heavily on the majority (Republican), rulng the legislature along with court appointees. Wisconsin has been a middle of the road state (currently there is Democratic governor and the state voted for President Obama.) Simply said, legislative district lines need to be drawn to fairly replicate voter preference.
Wisconsin is a poster child for the negative effects, the winner take all mentality when gerrymandering is allowed to prevail. Republican or Democrat, redistricting can not be a solely political decision by a highly biased redistricting commission. You can’t blame the politicians. It’s like a high stakes athletic event; rooting for the home team backed by a large wager. Our Federal Supreme Court has weighed in on the matter; political gerrymandering is not unconstitutional. Minus a citizen referendum, those in power prefer gerrymandering in order to support the power structure.
Montana has a redistricting commission of four partisans and neutral fifth member to act as an arbitrator and tie breaker. Not the best set-up, but some assurance fairness will prevail. Maybe equity would comprise a commission of one computer (remember Big Blue the chess player?), a statistician, a political scientist, one Republican, one Democrat and a neutral member such as a retired judge, or university president or maybe just the computer? Who knows.
On the day of this post on April 10, it will be interesting to track the Covid 19 count in Wisconsin. Time will tell if gerrymandering equates to a life or death encounter for the voter.