Amendment One

Dear Editor:

One of the most important issues on the November 6th ballot is Amendment One which will go a long way toward making participation in our democracy more credible. Currently, new legislative and Congressional districts are redrawn after a national census by whichever political party has the majority in the state legislature. Each party skews the lines to their own benefit, and we are stuck with those district lines for ten years.

I did a little online research and learned that Missouri and Arkansas are the only two states that let incumbent politicians draw  new district boundaries. There are many other ways to redraw legislative and Congressional districts, and they are spelled out by the Brennan Center for Justice website. I strongly urge voters to approve Amendment One to break the cycle of political parties artificially dividing up the state for their own benefit.

Amendment One will also level the playing field for voters by limiting campaign contributions and lobbyists' gifts to politicians. It's time to cut back on the corruptive influence of huge campaign contributions, and maybe reduce the number of misleading TV ads as a side benefit.

Susan Cunningham

Pacific MO

New Haven Independent News

405 Charles Cook Plaza

New Haven, MO 63068

(573) 237-5600

nhnews2017@gmail.com