The NH Senate Election Law Committee recently passed partisan Republican-favoring congressional district maps that will give the Republican party unchecked dominance in our state. The bill HB52 is headed to the senate floor next week and there is still time to tell them to fix it - this is the last stop before the bill goes to the governor's desk.
Every 10 years, the legislative districts from town to federal are redrawn to reflect the changes recorded in the national census. The map making process was deeply flawed this year and the resulting redistricting bills for all of the districts are an embarrassment. While gerrymandering has long plagued our country at the hands of both parties, nearly all of the public comments along the way have opposed all of the bills because of gerrymandering. Gerrymandering insulates elected officials from their voters by basing the boundaries for a district on party affiliation, setting the likelihood of the winner by the map makers' party, not the collection of voters. This impacts environmental decisions such as state park protections, funding for safe drinking water and climate action. When the elected officials do not represent their voters, elected officials cannot be held accountable by the voters, and then democracy is in peril.
Now the NH Senate is prepared to vote on the congressional districts. Remember, this is the last stop before the bill goes to the governor's desk. HB52 is a clear example of gerrymandered, uncompetitive, and preordained party stronghold districts. Instead of more gerrymandered districts, Sierra Club and a diverse coalition of partners asks the voters of the Granite State to step up now to tell the senate to fix HB52.
A recent poll from the University of New Hampshire found that over 60% of Granite Staters have not seen the new maps and of those who have seen them - across the board - 80% said that they were gerrymandered.
The state senate has the opportunity to right this wrong and fix the maps. Please send them a letter today. The voters of New Hampshire deserve and demand fair maps that allow the voters to choose their elected officials and not the other way around!
Link to the UNH Poll: https://scholars.unh.edu/survey_center_polls/689/
