Had a thought on a simple fix for gerrymandering:
Every political party with at least one seat submits a proposed map. The map with the lowest total boundary distance wins. Secret "bids".
Or have an independent body produce the map. A body that has no ties to any pollie or party, that stands to gain nothing from an electoral map. the parties/polles are free to critique said body's map but they them selves do not generate a map.
Having pollies generate a map means they will aim to maintain, at the very least, the status quo, thus guaranteeing gerrymandering will continue.
But how do you ensure they are actually independent?
Fortunately in Australia our Electoral Commissions, both State and Commonwealth, have been in existence since just after WW1. They have a near perfect record of impartiality and competence. I say near perfect as this century we have had a few examples of carelessness in handling ballots, necessitating new elections or rather part elections.
The way you Yanks divide yourself into opposing factions so quickly would make it difficult but you have to start somewhere.
As a start the body is answerable only to the parliament or legislative body that formed it, not the government of the day. No existing, former or wanna-be politicians can be members. No members can belong to a political party or have worked for a political party or candidate, paid or unpaid.
In the state of Victoria where I live you cannot work for the Electoral Commission if you have represented or worked for a political party or candidate within the last 5 years or 2 electoral cycles, whichever is longer. You cannot even hand out pamphlets or flyers for a party or candidate. You cannot put a political sign on your property including a vehicle as your impartiality will be called into question. Paid or volunteer work does not matter. Similar rules apply for the Commonwealth Electoral Commission.
Members are paid by the parliament, not the parties or others. They are considered to be public servants and follow the public servant rules.
They produce the maps and then put them up for public discussion for a time. These maps are based upon
population only. The maps merely show the boundaries of the electorates, not where the polling stations etc. will be. That is a separate process. All interested parties including political parties, candidates, individuals etc. can lodge a request or protest to amend an electorate based solely upon
population. Any changes are made based solely upon
population and are made by the commission. Naturally the perceived independence of the commission is important.
There are 2 important features
1. The body is independent of the parties, candidates, government of the day etc. Responsible only to the parliament that created it.
2. Boundaries are based solely upon
population. If another criteria is allowed esp. past voting patterns then gerrymandering
will occur.
