Let legislatures draw the lines: Opposing view

State legislatures should draw lines of congressional districts because the U.S. Constitution requires it, and it empowers the people.

The Founders knew that their Constitution-making involved a centralization of power. They did not trust people in power. They wanted to diffuse power, through separating the branches of government and limiting the scope of the national government's authority.

They augmented the distribution of power by authorizing each state's legislature to regulate the "times, places and manner of holding elections" of U.S. senators and representatives. That includes the drawing of congressional districts.

Many states have attempted to remove this authority from the legislatures by creating commissions, ostensibly independent of politicization, to create congressional districts.

Arizona has a commission of five unelected individuals, screened by an unelected board. The panel consists of two Democrats, two Republicans and an "independent" chairman. The Republicans and Democrats have a bias and attempt to sway the chairman. The chair will be the swing vote and can leverage that power to obtain the lines she wants.

Neither the legislature nor the voters review the commission's map. One unelected person wields all of the power. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that there is virtually no way to remove an abusive chairman or member of the commission.

If the redistricting commission were free of politicization, we could anticipate a reduction of lawsuits opposing its map. But in the 15 years of its existence, there has been non-stop litigation costing Arizonans tens of millions of dollars.

The commission method of drawing lines does not empower the people!

When the legislature draws the lines, the proposed maps are displayed to the public for input. There is debate in committees and on the floor of the state Senate and House.

The governor must also approve the map. Voters can express their approval or displeasure by re-electing or removing the legislators who created the map.

The constitutional method for drawing congressional districts empowers the people!

Andy Biggs is president of the Arizona Senate.