Threat to Idaho voters

In 2011, I wrote an open letter to the Independent Redistricting Commission. The letter criticized the extreme attempt by the majority to gerrymander Idaho. They wanted to gerrymander Moscow, Idaho. They wanted to gerrymander the north side of a small 25,000-person town into a completely separate district.

Gerrymandering is what happens when elected leaders want to choose their own voters, not let the voters choose them. Candidates from a single party are assured victory, and the communities they represent face an uncertain future. Corruption, scandal and nepotism fester in such communities.

Because the commission was independent, the extreme plan failed and we had a more balanced redistricting. Now the majority party is proposing a change to the Constitution of Idaho which will guarantee future gerrymandered districts. This mission for absolute power must end. No elected official should vote for this plan. No candidate should support this plan. And no voter should vote for any office-seeker in favor of this plan.

This proposal by the ruling class of Idaho indicates only one thing: They don’t trust Idahoans to make the right decision when we have a choice. But democracy thrives on competition and dies with forced one-party rule.

David Morse

Moscow, Idaho