I am happy to write my first letter to the editor ever on behalf of Question 4.
Last December, I urged my state Rep. Dennis Keschl and my former Rep. Pat Jones in 2008, to put in what this year “turned into” Question 4. The fact that two representatives of different parties, one of whom defeated the other at the last election, both submitted the same good government bill speaks to what is best about Maine politics.
My basic goal both times was simply to make it so redistricting following each census would go into effect in time for the primary and general elections in years ending in “2.”
The 2008-2009 effort failed due to the cost increase for the period the Legislature was then budgeting for, which I avoided this time by leaving the next redistricting to 2013.
When a lawsuit was launched over congressional redistricting in March and quickly took on partisan overtones, I was afraid that would kill this year’s constitutional resolution. The way everything worked out though, it was just made better.
In addition to making future redistricting more timely (which might not be federally mandated for legislative or county commissioner redistricting and thus would not be made redundant by a lawsuit), the passage of Question 4 will prevent any future Legislature before 2021 from overturning the bipartisan plan agreed to this year.
It will also ensure that every future redistricting plan for all but some obscure county finance/budget committees will either have been approved by two-thirds vote in each house of the Legislature, or will have been drawn by the Supreme Court, which seems to have handled redistrictings in 2003 in a fair and nonpartisan manner.
Kevin Lamoreau
Manchester
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