Curtail partisanship

The first thing to be said about the drawing of legislative districts is that both political parties have been gerrymandering for as long as we can remember. Both parties share blame. All we can do in our little corner of the world is to make our own state’s process as fair as possible.

On Nov. 29 the Arkansas Board of Apportionment finalized the boundaries for new legislative districts. The board has only three members: the governor, the attorney general, and the secretary of state — all of the same party. Time was given for public reaction to the new plan, but only after a basic design had been determined.

With all of that said, however, does it strike you that something is more than a little wrong with entrusting this critical process to the three top leaders of the majority party? Do you think they might have been tempted to put their thumbs on the scale?

No arrangement can ever make this process completely fair, but surely we need to have a better system. Partisanship should be minimized. Unfortunately, it was too much to hope that the current Legislature would try to do better.

SANDY WYLIE Bella Vista