Our Framingham chapter chair Beverly Hugo recently had an op-ed printed in the MetroWest Daily News about the importance of a diverse Redistricting Committee. The lines of our Congressional and legislative districts will be redrawn later this year, with major issues of representation at stake.

Redistricting will determine our political power for the next 10 years. Make sure the ‘redistricters’ reflect us

The Joint Redistricting Committee, which is to be appointed by Senate President Karen Spilka and Speaker of the House Ronald Mariano will oversee the 2021 redistricting process.

As is customary every 10 years, the process of redistricting has begun. Although this undertaking culminates in November with the Legislature voting on newly defined congressional and state districts, the process begins now with the appointment of members to the Joint Committee on Redistricting. 

Ultimately, the Joint Committee will determine whether the political power of our communities is fairly represented.  It will decide which candidates run for office and who they will represent. The delineation of legislative districts will affect nearly every issue our communities care about for the next decade. 

The goal of the committee is to ensure that district lines are centered on the voters, not political interests, and that the redistricting process is fair to all our communities. 

Having a truly representative committee composition will also encourage public participation in the process by attending hearings and submitting proposed maps. In addition, a well composed Committee will assure participation from historically underrepresented communities.

In decades past, we have seen what can go wrong during redistricting: the legislature could break our communities apart and dilute our political power; it could combine communities with very different priorities into the same district; or it could otherwise draw district lines that do not make sense for voters. Massachusetts did, after all, invent the gerrymander.

We also know what can go well. In 2011, Massachusetts broke from its legacy of closed-door redistricting, where district lines were essentially drawn by those in leadership without any regard for input from members of the legislature and the public. Instead, it conducted a far more open and transparent process with statewide hearings and platforms that allowed Bay Staters to submit their own maps – resulting in districts that reflected common interests of voters, rather than protecting incumbent politicians.

Redistricting will shape Massachusetts’ political future — and the process begins with the Senate President, Karen Spilka, and Speaker of the House, Ron Mariano. I am confident that they will meet their responsibility by appointing legislators to the Joint Committee who will equitably consider Massachusetts’ racial and geographic diversity. We call on them to do exactly that.

Beverly Hugo is the founder of Progressive Framingham/Metrowest.