Events Detail

Hudson Institute

In partnership with

iSolon

 held a panel discussion of

Reforming American Redistricting:

Lessons from British Columbia

"As the next census approaches… I think we should begin an open bipartisan discussion about ensuring that future attempts at redistricting are as fair as possible…. [T]he fact of the matter is that we now have a system where, too often, our representatives are selecting their voters, as opposed to the voters selecting the representatives.  That is a situation that I think the American people should not accept."

--President Barack Obama

In April 2010, the U.S. government will conduct its next decennial census, triggering a wave of redistricting that will affect elections at all levels of U.S. government. Anticipating this once-in-a-decade event, policymakers and democratic reform activists throughout the United States are crafting laws to create a more democratically accountable redistricting process.   

One innovative approach to creating an independent commission on electoral reform has taken place in the Canadian province of British Columbia. On May 12, the British Columbian voters will head to the polls to vote on a redistricting referendum recommended by a randomly selected group of provincial citizens called a "citizens assembly." Does this innovation hold any lessons for American redistricting reform? On Monday, May 4, Hudson Institute gathered analysts and officials to discuss this and other questions that may present themselves as we move towards the 2010 census.

   Francis, Sands, Ford, Vance, Freiden, and Snider

Introductory Remarks

Christopher Sands, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute

9:10 AM

Recent American Proposals for Redistricting Reform

Les Francis, California Proposition 11 and Principal, Washington Media Group

Ellen Freidin, Chairwoman of FairDistrictsFlorida.org 

Randy Ford, Aide to Democratic Representative John Tanner

David Vance, (moderator) Director of Communications and Research, Americans for Redistricting Reform

9:50 AM

Looking North for a Redistricting Model? A Closer Look at Efforts in British Columbia

J. H. Snider, President, iSolon.org

Click Here for Snider's presentation

Click Here for Snider's working paper

10:30 AM

COFFEE BREAK

10:40 AM

Legislative Update on Redistricting Reform

Gerald Hebert, Executive Director, Campaign Legal Center

11:00 AM

Critique of the Redistricting Reform Proposals

Norman Ornstein, Resident Scholar on Congress, politics and the elections at American Enterprise Institute

Michael P. McDonald, Non-Resident Senior Fellow on governance studies at Brookings Institution

Bruce E. Cain, Professor of Political Science, University of California-Berkeley

Christopher Sands, (moderator) Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute

12:00 PM

Adjournment

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Hudson Institute

Betsy and Walter Stern Conference Center

1015 15^th Street, NW, 6^th Floor

Washington, DC 20005