http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Tucker/Where%20We%20Live%2009-27-2011.mp3
Every ten years, the U.S. Census is taken and every ten years, the legislative map is redrawn. In states like Connecticut - that process is handled by a legislative committee - an arrangement that leads many to wonder about whether politics plays too large a role in who we get to vote for.
As ProPublica reporters have been uncovering, corporations, unions and other special interests have gotten heavily involved in redrawing district lines.
As a local example of the potential for conflict, The Hartford Courant has asked House Speaker Chris Donovan to step out of the redistricting conversation because he’s running for the 5th Congressional seat being vacated by Senate Candidate Chris Murphy.
The paper also suggests that Connecticut should follow the lead of a dozen other states, and appoint an independent board to handle the process. But in New York, that idea’s been a tough sell to lawmakers - and in Arizona, the “independent commission” has been facing the same sorts of partisan criticism that the lawmakers faced.
Today on Where We Live - how we re-draw the map of Democracy. How does the process work today? How can it be changed for the better?
