Letter: Suffolk draws district maps in dark

The Suffolk County Legislature has formally abandoned all efforts to implement nonpartisan redistricting ["More incumbent protection," Editorial, June 25].

This law institutionalizes new districts that were drawn in secrecy, thereby closing off any discussion of the method and of the integrity of community demographics. At a public hearing in Hauppauge on June 5, our legislators refused to discuss who drew the lines or the criteria used. Requests for public hearings on the new lines two weeks later in Riverhead were rebuffed by the majority.

Transparency is critical in holding elected officials accountable, and numerous questions have arisen in our review: numbers don't correlate; demographic and communities-of-interest groupings are not discernible.

The League of Women Voters believes that the redistricting process should treat constituents as intelligent, engaged citizens. Voters should choose their elected officials, not the other way around. Backroom politics has trumped transparency.

Lisa Scott, St. James

Editor's note: The writer is the president of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County.