Florida still chipping away at African American voting rights
To those of us in the African American community, at least we who are remaining vigilant of our voting rights, we understand quite clearly what’s behind Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ redistricting map proposal to abolish the existing congressional fifth district and place it into four new districts. I imagine those who support the Governor’s idea will hypocritically claim that “minority representation” will not “necessarily be affected,” knowing quite well that such a proposal will do exactly that.
Those of us who are paying attention understand that the present electoral system that we have in this country, i.e., Winner-Takes-All (WTA) election method, easily favors the majority composition of a district. For example, if the district is majority White, it will more easily favor that composition. Likewise, the same will happen if the district is majority Black, Hispanic, majority Democrat or Republican. We also know very well that the political party with a majority in a state legislature has the power to carve up a voting district virtually any way it likes, and if the majority party appointed judges decided to look the other way, the district map(s) will receive virtual rubber stamped judicial approval. We know that both Democratic and Republican parties have played that gerrymandering game for decades.
Gerrymandering has become so rampant in America that I generally think of the practice as gerrymandering on steroids. The governor’s proposal would be another example of gerrymandering that continues to chip away minority voting rights in America. I can only hope that the Florida legislature will reject the governor’s redistricting proposal.
The fundamental problem with the American election system is that a serious overhaul of the system is long overdue. As along as we continue to utilize a system that, by default, favors the majority in a given electoral constituency or district, given the demographic composition of the country, minority groups will not obtain fair representation. At best, minority representation will come mostly from “minority opportunity districts,’’ a euphemism for token minority representation.
Yes, I am saying in a very direct way, that the WTA system makes it very easy for minorities to be underrepresented. It also discourages minority political party development and consequently turns our two party system into monopoly politics. It’s an electoral system that stifles the democracy we hold dear. Thanks to gerrymandering, it enables our politicians to choose their voters, rather than voters choosing their politicians.
The present electoral system violates the principle of one person one vote, assuming it means one vote one value. But what if the voter’s candidate loses, does his vote still have a value equal to the vote that resulted in a winning candidate? No, it’s more honest to say that one vote one value is more accurate if we use a system where we are all winners, but in proportion to the votes received in a state or national election.
That is entirely possible if we adopt some version of Proportional Representation, an electoral practice used among our NATO allies, the European Union, as well as elsewhere abroad. Admittedly, that’s a prospect not likely to be realized anytime soon in the US. Thus, it’s a necessity that minority voting rights be preserved, not diluted. I join with millions of Americans of all races, creed, and national origin to reject efforts to further dilute the voting rights of not only minorities but of any American in these United States.
Keith C. Simmonds, Ph.D. is a political science professor at Florida A&M University.
