Episode 32767: Open Democracy Minute for September 20, 2021 - NH Redistricting Public Hearings Begin - Strafford County this week

Open Democracy Minute

You're listening to the Open Democracy Minute, keeping Granite State government by and for the people. This Wednesday is the second public “listening session” for the Special Committee on Redistricting, held at the Strafford County Courthouse at 6 p.m. Sept. 22. At last week's hearing in Merrimack County, citizens testifying asked for a fair process, citing the 74 towns which passed the NH Resolution for Fair, Nonpartisan Redistricting. They also called out the committee for 2011's Executive Council District 2, and reminded the partisan-led committee that NH can and should have an independent redistricting commission to avoid the partisan rancor. Missing from the testimony last week was demands from any of the 62 NH towns which are eligible for their own House district, but did not receive it in 2011. There are mathematical reasons in some cases, but many cases it was a best lazy map-making, and at worst, partisan gerrymandering. The Map-a-Thon citizen mapping project has reduced that number from 62 to 25. To date, the only hearings scheduled have been last week's Merrimack County, September 22nd's Strafford County, and September 30th's at St. Anselm's College in Hillsborough County . For more information can be found about these meetings, and the Map-a-Thon Project, at OpenDemocracyNH.org As Granny D said, “Democracy is not something we HAVE, it's something we DO.” For the Open Democracy Minute, I'm Brian Beihl.