Open Letter to Gov. Mike Braun

                I write to oppose the calling of a special session of the Indiana General Assembly for the purpose of redrawing the Indiana congressional districts. I oppose it for several reasons.

                First, to redraw congressional district boundaries midway between decennial censuses when redistricting is required by law is an extraordinary step to take. There are no census data on which to base changing district lines to achieve more equal population representation.

                Second, in light of Point 1, the only reason one might propose to change the district boundaries is because of dissatisfaction with past election results or in anticipation of future results that might be politically unsatisfying to the political party in power. In recent past Indiana congressional elections, the nine Republican candidates have received between 58 and 59.7 percent of the statewide two-party vote while the Democratic candidates received between 38.5 and 39.9 percent. Those elections resulted in the Republican candidates winning seven, or 78 percent, of the Indiana congressional seats, 20 percent more than the 58-59.7 percent of the popular vote received – an indication of the level of overrepresentation of Republicans and underrepresentation of Democratic voters under the current districting plan.

Third: as I understand it, the purpose of calling a special session to redraw Indiana is to further skew the districts to the advantage of Republican candidates, resulting in one, if not two, additional Republican congressional seats. This would effectively render worthless the votes of 40 percent of the Indiana electorate. If the 40 percent of Indiana voters who regularly vote for Democratic candidates can elect only one or even none of the Indiana congressional delegation, what stake do they have in our representative democracy?

Fourth, I am concerned that by calling a special session for this purpose, you will be violating, if not the letter, then certainly the spirit of the Indiana Constitution. Article 4, Section 9, establishing when the Indiana General Assembly shall meet, specifies: “But if, in the opinion of the Governor, the public welfare shall require it, he may, at any time by proclamation, call a special session.” If you were to call a special session for the purpose of redrawing congressional districts midstream, I believe strongly you would be obligated at the very least to explain how the public welfare of the people of Indiana requires it.

Please do not call this special session to redraw Indiana’s congressional districts, further distorting Indiana’s electoral outcomes, rendering the congressional votes of at least 40 percent of Hoosier voters ineffective, and confusing President Trump’s political motivations with the public welfare of Indiana citizens.

David J. Hadley, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, is retired from Wabash College where he spent 43 years on faculty, six as Dean of Students. He also served two terms as Montgomery County Democratic Party Chair.