Harry Trickey
Jefferson City
Dear Editor:
In 2018, Missouri voters passed The Clean Missouri Amendment (Amendment 1) by 62 percent which established a new procedure for redistricting state legislative districts.
Amendment 3 would replace all the provisions of The Clean Missouri Amendment by eliminating the position of nonpartisan demographer and would return the power to draw districts back to a redistricting commission that is handpicked by politicians in the House and Senate.
In addition, Amendment 3 would eliminate protections against drawing districts for partisan advantage that allows one party to enjoy a mathematical advantage that would match the illegal gerrymandering of Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
The most egregious sin in Amendment 3 is that only "eligible voters" would be counted. The commissioners would not count the total population. Missouri and all of the other 49 states have counted the total population since the founding of this country.
Children would not count!
Children under 18 would disappear as citizens worthy of notice by senators and representatives. They would be nonpersons much like African Americans were prior to the 13th and 14th Amendments to our Constitution.
In addition, Missouri citizens could not challenge gerrymandering as did the citizens of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Carolina in federal court.
So what did we vote for when we adopted Amendment 1 in 2018?
The Clean Missouri Amendment appoints a state demographer to calculate the size and dimensions of state legislative districts.
It requires that the demographer consider specific criteria including fairness, competitiveness for each party and protection of racial minorities.
The demographer's maps would be submitted to bipartisan commissions of Senate and House legislators who would adopt or reject the demographer's report.
Any changes to any district would require that 70 percent of the commissioners agree, thus insuring bipartisan support for any changes.