Karyn Douglas’ biggest conundrum is not getting people registered to vote. It’s getting them to vote, and more than every four years.
“There are so many more important offices that [people] could be voting for in the off years,” she noted in our recent discussion about this year’s election-related redistricting and re-precincting.
Maybe registration is like flossing. It’s aspirational. Everyone knows they should floss and vote, so most buy floss and they register to vote, but the numbers, like dental health, do not lie. What keeps people away from the polls? In 10 public forums, Indiana’s Independent Redistricting Commission heard over and over that elections are not competitive.
“This leaves people feeling as if their voice isn’t heard in the [democratic] process,” said the May 2020 Report published by All In 4 Democracy about forums. “People also complained that their representatives are not responsive to their concerns and they attributed this disregard to “safe” districts.” Safe districts are those where one party or official is so dominant that no candidates compete.
Local citizens have also spoken saying they need more competitive choices. In the case of current representative Jim Baird they are frustrated that he refused to debate his competitors so that they couldn’t have a forum for their platforms. Other voters have aired concerns that a current county councilman posted on social media on Jan. 3 about “taking up arms again” as in Revolutionary War times leading them to wonder, “against which neighbors would he take up arms?” There’s a need for candidates who do not hint at war and a desire for representatives who don’t just toe the party line, but who hear out their constituents with an adaptive leadership approach.
The heart of democracy abides in the tension between compromise and healthy competition (not the sort where it’s not enough for one to succeed but to see one’s competitors fail entirely.) What we talk about when we talk about redistricting is how to enfranchise citizens with robust options for representatives who will be as nuanced as Hoosiers are. It means redistricting should be transparent at the least, citizen-driven at best, and that reaches all the way to Montgomery County and city precincting. There are eleven townships each with an elected trustee, seven elected county council members, three county commissioners, Crawfordsville’s mayor and seven other elected positions who must all declare a party affiliation. Every ten years, after the 50 state senate and 100 state congressional districts are drawn, our county clerk, currently Karyn Douglas, must “re-precinct” the county to abide by election laws. The twenty-seven precincts must be as balanced in population size as possible and be compact as well as contiguous. They cannot cross into other state districts and should follow natural lines.
Douglas and mapping expert Mike Davis, who works in the county building department, first re-precincted in 2011. They drew a pie shape of precincts out from the center of Crawfordsville, where population is dense and where it doesn’t change as much as the rural edges of the township. Because the county is majority white for now, the lines do not divide communities of interest as might happen in Marion County. Though Census data is not expected until August, later than usual due to the pandemic, Douglas doesn’t expect major changes. She noted regrettably that it’s possible that many households did not even fill out their census forms. To prepare for re-precincting, she will attend the Indiana Election Division’s summer conference for training and updates. In September, she and Davis will begin what usually takes about two months: dividing the population as equally as possible within precinct boundaries.
Districtr.org, a site to help citizens experiment with what it’s like to redistrict, reports that precinct data is confusing because there is no uniform system for reporting how precincts are laid out. In Montgomery County, this can all be confusing since the county has 10 voting precincts but 11 townships with elected officials. One represents where to vote, the other affects who we vote for.
Indiana code allows citizens 10 days for public comment after precincting ends. This year will be squishy because the process begins and ends later. Douglas said that there hasn’t been comment in the past. She is willing (if not eager) to talk to anyone and be transparent about voting and the clerk’s office accomplishments. 2021 is not an election year, but still a year for each of us to serve our nation by engaging in redistricting, encouraging candidates to challenge officials who dissatisfy us, or at least to educate ourselves and our representatives about what our community needs.
The League of Women Voters, a non-partisan, multi-issue organization encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase public understanding of major policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy. All men and women are invited to join the LWV where hands-on work to safeguard democracy leads to civic improvement. For information, visit the website www.lwvmontcoin.org or the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County, IN Facebook page.
