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While the census is being tabulated, politicos are already scheming for the best political advantages and rectification of injustices. The political boundaries will be redrawn, but we don't yet know what the lines will follow, or who will receive the benefit.
Our constitution requires a reset of the districts every 10 years. the 14th Amendment says we must all have equal representation, equal justice, and equal voting powers. It didn't used to be that way. Oklahoma's original design was for each county (regardless of population) will have one House Rep. Only if the population reached a high threshold would a county get a 2nd Representative. That led to unequal influence in lawmaking, and eventually the law was changed.
House & Senate districts are now fluid and adjusts to the flow of population changes. Counties no longer play as important a role in equal protection of citizen rights and protections.
Political factions have plenty of opportunity to draw district lines to give their sect extra seats in the legislature. The 2010 redistricting helped Senate Republicans go from a 24-24 tie in 2007, to a 42-6 supermajority in 2017.
Sadly, this happens at the expense of community cohesion. A medium-sized city may get split up and put into multiple rural districts. This makes it harder for the community or region to have a lawmaker's full devotion and efforts. |
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100 House Members - 50 Senators
The legislature can statutorily adjust the size of each chamber. It's been done multiple times, most notably in the 1950s & 1990s. the House used to have 121 seats. The senate used to have 44. We currently have a House of 101 members and a Senate of 48 members.
A net add of just 2 more senators, and a reduction of just 1 House seat, will allow our state to create unified & cohesive districts which result in 3 legislators serving a region or parts of it. Simply put, we draw the new senate boundaries to adjust to the newest census data. The senators each have a new district of the same population as every other member. But here's where a new reform come in.. Rather than letting the House draw up completely different districts which bear no resemblance to the Senate; The House takes the senate district maps and create 2 House Districts (A&B) in each one of them. Several other states have adopted this model over the past century, and it greatly enhances the local focus and collaboration of communities with their lawmaker delegations. Senate District 35 has House Districts "35A" & "35b". The constituents of Senate 35 know they have a House and Senate member, and both use the number 35. |
We took the current House District map and paired 2 districts into a prototype 'Collaborative Senate District", using color-matching. This isn't what the boundaries would be, since population shifts will cause automatic changes, but it does help us see a better way to collaborate Senate and House districts. This map isn't exact, since there is an odd number of current House Districts.
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A Cohesive Delegation Model
My senator is terming out, this year. His district overlaps no less than 7 House Districts. If a community has a House member committed to bringing legislative attention to a community problem which is a result of legislative neglect; That House member has little confidence that the applicable Senator will prioritize the same local concerns. This is especially true if the rectification of the community problem will have a detrimental impact on the other areas of a senator's broader district.
Avoiding Court Challenges.
There have been several lengthy federal court battles in recent decades, alleging that district boundaries are drawn for less than noble reasons. Most often it's either to protect an incumbent, or bolster a party majority in elections for the next 10 years. This model of cohesion has prevented states from any court ruling or delay in elections. But it's done even more for the several political parties.
Most states who use this cohesive design have seen political party organizations greatly benefiting. Where they used to have county party conventions, they've now found the (senate)District conventions to be far more manageable in size and structure. Additionally, the lawmakers in that district play a greater role. And during the general election campaigns, the whole organization focuses on just winning those 3 seats. Even the district watch parties are often organized around this central focus.
It reduces the state parties into 50 districts instead or trying to organize and manage all 77 counties. It allows the big metropolitan counties to split into several manageable cohesive districts which can be better run by volunteers in the party. State Party Committees will also find better equity, since each State Committee member represents the same number of citizens in their district.
Most states who use this cohesive design have seen political party organizations greatly benefiting. Where they used to have county party conventions, they've now found the (senate)District conventions to be far more manageable in size and structure. Additionally, the lawmakers in that district play a greater role. And during the general election campaigns, the whole organization focuses on just winning those 3 seats. Even the district watch parties are often organized around this central focus.
It reduces the state parties into 50 districts instead or trying to organize and manage all 77 counties. It allows the big metropolitan counties to split into several manageable cohesive districts which can be better run by volunteers in the party. State Party Committees will also find better equity, since each State Committee member represents the same number of citizens in their district.
One small additional change in House Procedure would be for an election of Speaker of the House. Should it ever become a tie vote, the Governor should be allowed a tiebreaker vote in that one situation (just in the vote for a Speaker). Currently, the Lt. Governor has similar tiebreaker voting power in the senate, and it applies to far broader scenarios in the senate.
