To the Editor:
Each state goes through the process of redistricting every ten years, based on the census data. This process is supposed to ensure that every citizen is properly represented, regardless of political party, but politicians play with boundary lines to try to win state and federal elections.
The New Hampshire Republican Party, which currently has a small majority in Concord, has been outright shameful about it this year. WMUR quoted GOP State Chair Steve Stepanek openly bragging, “…we control redistricting,” he said. “I can stand here today and guarantee you that we will send a conservative Republican to Washington, D.C. as a Congress person in 2022.”
The Republicans want to change the Congressional district lines to push Democrats into New Hampshire’s Second District, which Annie Kuster represents, and increase the number of Republicans in the First District, which is always tougher to win, even when playing by the rules. And they plan to play with the lines for state elections as well.
Gerrymandering is wrong, no matter who does it. So why did Governor Sununu veto a bipartisan bill that would have allowed an independent commission to draw the lines? Did he want Republican politicians, not the citizens in those boundaries, to decide who would represent them? Now is the time to contact Republican officials in our state and tell them that New Hampshire voters are watching to see if they believe in our American experiment-Democracy-or if they feel that government officials should choose their representatives for them.
Gene Porter
Rochester, N.H.