FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                  JON ROLAND 512_374_9585
   
TESTIMONY FOR NON_PARTISAN  REDISTRICTING   

Austin, Texas, July 2, 2003 — The Texas House of Representatives  Committee on Redistricting heard testimony today from members of the Coalition  for Non_partisan Redistricting, Robert Howard, Jon Roland, and Patrick  Dixon.
   
A video clip of the testimony can be viewed online at  http://www.house.state.tx.us/fx/av/committee78/30702p38.ram  . To view it you will need a viewer such as RealPlayer from  http://www.real.com . See also  http://www.house.state.tx.us/committees/redistricting.php  .
   
In their testimony, the witnesses rejected not just the proposed new  redistricting map, but the map used in the last election as well, and asked the  Legislature to adopt a new method of obtaining district maps that is impersonal  and not subject to human tampering or political manipulation. Instead of  debating and adopting particular maps, the act would provide the specifications  for the computer program, called Target, to use in drawing the map, and  whatever map the computer produced would be the official map to be used in the  next election.
   
The witnesses explained that each time the computer program is run, it  produces a different map. The process is random. But all of the maps will meet  the specifications. If anyone doesn't like the maps, they should advocate  different specifications. But any such specifications would be explicit and  subject to public debate and judicial scrutiny.
   
Roland suggested that if the Legislature is concerned about the computer  producing anomalous maps, the proposal could be modified to have the computer  generate, say, a dozen maps, and then have a certain number of "strikes", as  are used to exclude prospective jurors during jury selection, to be applied by  various members of the Legislature to eliminate some maps. The final selection  would then be made from among the remaining maps by random lot.
   
Roland emphasized that this controversy threatens the precious  bipartisan collegiality that has prevailed in Texas for more than a century,  which allows legislative proposals from all parties and factions to be  considered on their merits. If we allow such devisive issues to shatter that  tradition, the result may be that only proposals by the leaders of the dominant  party will have any chance of being heard. The result would not favor good or  efficient government.
   
The proposal is at  http://www.constitution.org/reform/us/tx/redistrict/cnpr_proposal.htm  .   
The Texas Legislative Council site is  http://www.tlc.state.tx.us/

For a demonstration of the computer software see  http://txliberty.dyndns.org/inetpub/wwwroot/webfiles/LL030517H.rm .