13 schools map out ideas in redistricting competition

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. — The maps are drawn, and the judging is set to begin.

Using fresh population data from the 2010 U.S. Census, teams from 13 colleges and universities from across Virginia have drawn 68 maps proposing new political boundaries for the state.

The College and University Redistricting Competition is aimed at creating “alterna­tives to gerrymandering,” according to a competition news release.

Rebecca Hulse , a professor at William & Mary Law School , said her students weren’t necessarily all wide-eyed and enthralled with the fact that their maps would be used in redistricting. But she said the maps served a purpose.

“I think what happened as a result of this competition really is there’s something for the public to compare against what the legislature does,” said Hulse , who teaches election law .

The nine-member team at the law school didn’t take competition and politics into account when they came up with their six maps, but members hope that their maps, along with others, will hold some influence nevertheless.

There might be a chance that legislators will behave differently if they know the public can judge by comparison, the map­makers figure. “It holds the possibility that it will help curb some excesses that might otherwise happen,” Hulse said.

Put another way, she said legislators “can’t do anything totally outrageous because there’s reasonable, nonpartisan alterna­tives that the public can compare.

Nationally recognized experts Thomas Mann of the Brookings Institution and Nor­man Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute started judging the maps Friday. The winners will be announced March 22.

“This is the first step in opening up redis­tricting to citizens, adding much-needed transparency to a politicized and opaque process,” Ornstein said in a prepared state­ment.

Maps in the competition can be seen at districtbuilder.varedistrictingcompetition. org.

The winners will receive cash prizes, and their maps will be considered by the Bipar­tisan Advisory Commission on Redistrict­ing, created by Gov. Robert F. McDonnell .

The U.S. Constitution requires all 50 states to reapportion legislative districts in accor­dance with the population shifts recorded by the census.

Hulse said she doesn’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that students will get the chance to draw maps only once in a decade. “You could look at it as ‘too bad,’ or you could look at it as ‘Thank God,’” she said.

Still, the law scholars had fun doing the work.

“It was an unbelievably invaluable ex­perience for them,” Hulse said. “We are so grateful that we had the chance to do this.”

Source: http://www2.insidenova.com