Democracy can be so easily hijacked. We only have to look south of the border to see how that happens.
The Americans play games when it comes to setting electoral district boundaries and they've been doing it for so long they even have a word for it. Gerrymandering describes the unusual drawing of electoral boundaries to help the incumbent keep his or her seat by keeping supporting neighbourhoods in and drawing around the ones that don't.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word gerrymander dates back to 1812 when Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry memorably redrew an electoral district in the shape of a salamander.
This kind of nonsense continues to this day across the United States, a contributing factor to the political polarization seen there.
It's easy for Republicans and Democrats to avoid each other because many can choose to live in neighbourhoods, cities, counties and states where their neighbours share their political beliefs.
Everyone still gets a vote, but where those voters and their votes go is decided by the politicians. As former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger so eloquently put it on CNN recently, there was a time when people picked the politicians but rampant gerrymandering now allows the politicians to pick the people.
Schwarzenegger is convinced redistricting, through an independent review by learned individuals of high integrity outside of the political process, would lead to districts formed around natural and man-made landmarks, be they rivers or highways, not by where Republicans and Democrats live.
The result would be Republicans and Democrats working together to benefit their district, moderate swing voters having significant impact on the results and both parties needing to put top candidates in place to attract those voters.
In other words, the quality of the candidate would matter more than party affiliation.
The governator doesn't need to look far to see redistricting in action because it's the law in B.C. and working proof of its effectiveness and fairness is in Prince George.
As the provincial election gets underway, some local voters find themselves living in different ridings from four years ago.
The Hart used to be cut in half by Highway 97, with the folks to the east of the highway in Prince George-Valemount and to the west in Prince-George Mackenzie.
Now they all belong in Prince George-Mackenzie. To the south and west, Peden Hill and Westwood has now joined College Heights in Prince George-Valemount.
The change was made to reflect shifting population numbers within the two ridings and it was made by the B.C. Electoral Boundaries Commission.
That commission is made up of three individuals - the province's chief electoral officer and two other appointees. Currently, they are Tom Melnick, a retired Supreme Court judge from Cranbrook, and Beverley Busson, the first female RCMP commissioner.
Those are the kind of people Schwarzenegger would like to see mapping districts in the United States, not elected officials in obvious conflict of interest.
It seems like such a small thing, but Schwarzenegger is considered something of a renegade across the American political spectrum for his passion for an independent, fair and common sense way to create electoral districts.
B.C. voters, meanwhile, take for granted a system in this province that gives voters as much power as possible on election day, rather than clandestinely stripping that authority away.
It's still not perfect, of course, but at least there are no ridings in B.C. that are shaped like a lizard or look like they were drawn by a three-year-old hopped up on sugar.
-- Managing editor Neil Godbout
