LTE: Move Redistricting Beyond Political Agendas, Focus on Communities of Interest

By: Matthew Lewis

Redistricting is one of the bedrock processes of our democracy. It’s how we decide how Minnesotans will be grouped to make important electoral choices, and how we’ll select our representation in St. Paul and Washington, D.C.

This year I’ve been proud to be a part of something different: the Citizens Redistricting Commission. Together, the 15 volunteers on our nonpartisan commission have worked hard to open the redistricting process to Minnesotans otherwise turned off by the often unnoticed and highly partisan business-as-usual. Through this great experience, I’ve learned two things that I hope our judicial panel will take to heart:

1. Citizens Want to be Part of the Process. Minnesotans care about how they’re represented, and I hope others will take advantage of our judicial panel’s open comment period to voice your own thoughts on the process.
2. Communities of Interest Are Minnesotans’ Priority. People want to share their representation with the people they live and work with; neighbors who share their community’s needs and aspirations. This isn’t about city or county lines, though that’s a part of it. For us, communities of interest goes deeper to the people Minnesotans identify with in the way they live their lives.

I hope that Minnesota’s judicial panel will use these lessons to create a final map that reflects the values of everyday Minnesotans, not partisan interests.

Matthew Lewis, an Edina native, is the Communications Director of the Independence Party and a master’s candidate at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. He is one of the 15 members of the Citizens Redistricting Commission, a nonpartisan, all volunteer Commission that aims to engage Minnesotans in the 2011-2012 redistricting process. More information about the Commission is available online at www.DrawTheLineMinnesota.org.