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June 06, 2007, 11:00 AM ET
Playing Fast and Loose With Voters' Rights Online
Some Texas state legislators, all Democrats, fled across the state line a few years ago to postpone a legislative session. The Republican majority was going to use that session to redraw Congressional voting-district lines, and the Democrats would have lost seats. A few months later, the Democrats slunk back and the lines were redrawn anyway.
Now the University of Southern California is about to shed new light on this mysterious and often-abused aspect of politics by way of an online game to be released next week. It is part of an academic movement to promote games for social change, lead researcher Chris Swain said during a recent visit to The Chronicle offices.
The Redistricting Game is an online multiplayer game, open to everyone, that debuts Monday, It allows people to compete in various redistricting scenarios, also known as "gerrymandering." Players can try to manipulate district lines to see how this produces a skewed victory for either party. The game allows politicians to choose voters, rather than letting voters choose their politicians, its designers say.
The game also provides details on a variety of real-life reform measures, including a "fair play" law introduced in Congress by Rep. John S. Tanner, Democrat of Tennessee. It also provides an online forum for players to discuss these issues.
Swain says he hopes the game will be used as a viral, grass-roots lobbying effort to open the public's eyes to this issue and to get them to take action. --Josh Fischman
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