Sept. 17 Daily News editorial

Political party operatives are gearing up for the 2010 Census, fine-tuning the computer software they’ll use to redraw congressional and legislative districts for partisan advantage. The national Census used to offer parties a once-in-a-decade chance to gerrymander districts. Now, thanks to a 2007 Supreme Court ruling, state elected officials are free to redraw district boundaries any time and as many times as they want.

The upcoming Census and new freedom to redistrict virtually at will raises the troubling prospect of a Congress even more sharply divided along party lines than what we’ve witnessed over the past decade. Partisan gerrymandering tends to favor lawmakers at the political extremes over moderates. Representatives in safe districts have little need to appeal to moderate voters. They need only satisfy their party leaders, who most influence the shape of their district boundaries. It’s a recipe for polarization and gridlock.

Rep. Joe Tanner, D-Tenn., has introduced legislation that would interrupt the parties’ redistricting plans for 2010 and beyond. House Resolution 543 would nationalize standards for congressional districting and pretty much remove state legislatures from the redistricting process. Tanner’s bill offers a simple and sensible fix for a process that is changing the political landscape in a way that marginalizes voters and elevates party loyalty over the public interest.

Some states have acted to counter partisan gerrymandering. This state did so 24 years ago, when Washington voters approved a constitutional amendment that created a citizen redistricting commission. California voters took a step toward ending that state’s rich tradition of political gerrymandering last year, with the approval of a measure cutting state legislators out of the redistricting process. Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Indiana also have taken steps to counter political gerrymandering.

The relatively few state-based reforms are welcome. But this problem calls for a national fix, such as Tanner’s bill would provide. And that fix is urgently needed. Partisan gerrymandering has become a near exact science, thanks to advances in computer software.

Just 30 years ago, new congressional districts were drawn on paper. Computers were employed on a limited basis beginning in the 1980s. It wasn’t until the 2000 Census that political parties hit their stride in use of computers to redraw congressional districts for political advantage. In the 2002 congressional election, only eight of the 435 House incumbents lost. Seven lost in 2004. Due to the flagging popularity of the GOP and President Bush, Democrats picked up 21 House seats in 2006 and another 17 in 2008. But that’s hardly a sea change.

Indeed, more than 400 of the 435 House members are in congressional districts drawn so carefully as to protect them against any and all challengers. This doesn’t fit the Founders’ vision of Congress. They envisioned a “people’s” House, more subject to shifting popular sentiment than the Senate. The reverse may be true today. Rep. Tanner’s bill, given time, could restore the “people’s” House.