ProPublica published an article claiming that California Democrats conspired to “game” the independent rediistricting citizens’ commission.  ProPublica cited internal memos obtained from the DCCC and Democratic political operatives.
I have little doubt that the New York State Democrats and their GOP counterparts would react in the same manner to an independent rediistricting commission, if one were created. We only need to look at the new Joint Commission on Political Ethics (JCOPE) as it went online last week. As they say, “history is prologue.”
The same scheme that’s alleged in the ProPublica article would occur in NY with both parties coordinating with local advocacy groups and creating pseudo-advocacy groups (unless such activity were expressly prohibited and its violation criminalized as a misdemeanor).
Sadly, New York politics invented gaming the system, any system. My pessimism is grounded in reality and personal experience.
The best part of the ProPublica article are the reader comments. Which I urge you to read.
“The citizens’commission had pledged to create districts based on testimony from the communities themselves, not from parties or statewide political players. To get around that,Democrats surreptitiously enlisted local voters,elected officials,labor unions and community groups to testify in support of configurations that coincided with the party’s interests. When they appeared before the commission, those groups identified themselves as ordinary Californians and did not disclose their ties to the party.

One woman who purported to represent the Asian community of the San Gabriel Valley was actually a lobbyist who grew up in rural Idaho,and lives in Sacramento.

In one instance,party operatives invented a local group to advocate for the Democrats’ map.“
Read the entire ProPublica here:
http://www.propublica.org/article/how-democrats-fooled-californias-redistricting-commission
HAS THIS AFFECTED YOUR SUPPORT FOR OR AGAINST INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING? Leave a comment.