David Oatney, a conservative Republican who would no doubt be as gleeful as any other should the GOP solidify its majority in the Tennessee House of Representatives next month, nevertheless cautions his party to redraw legislative districts with equity in mind, rather than revenge:

As tempting as it may be to use the redistricting process to insure the destruction of the opposing political formation, let us propose the radical idea that House and Senate Republicans in Nashville should not have vengeance in mind when drawing the new electoral boundaries mandated by the census. If Republicans are indeed victorious at the State level on November 2nd, let them do the one thing the Democrats never would do when they were in control-draw the legislative boundaries in a fair and equitable way, avoiding gerrymandering as much as is possible. Most computer models show that equitable districts would still give the Republicans a majority in Tennessee, and likely a substantial one. Republicans have an opportunity to show the electorate that they will not do as the other party had done, and that they believe that voters should have a greater impact on political outcomes than legislators, bureaucrats, or mapmakers.

While one hopes that Republicans do heed their compatriot’s thoughtful advice, an attempt to “redistrict them back to the Stone Age” is the more likely outcome. It may not be right, and the years of similar behavior by the Democratic Party are no excuse, but we’re dealing with human beings here—an arguable majority of whom see politics as a team sport. (Ask yourself: if fans of one SEC football team were given the chance to impose restrictions and sanctions on a rival team, wouldn’t their response make Milgram’s experiments look like a royal tea?)

Redistricting is a constitutional mandate, so there’s no getting around it (not that anyone should want to). So what is the best possible way to achieve it? It is here argued that an independent redistricting commission, with no regard to the balance of political party power at any given moment, might provide the best solution. The approach to drawing the lines should be data-driven, the mapmakers should be disinterested, and politics needs to play as little a part in the process as is humanly possible.

Editorializing is only one step toward achieving this goal. Public awareness is a good thing, but draft legislation to correct the process is a concrete artifact that can move the matter forward. And such draft legislation is forthcoming. This article is an open invitation to anyone who would like to help. You could help craft a bill or assist in seeking sponsors among the Legislature, among other things.

But here’s the thing. You have to know in which districts you live. The easiest way to find this out would be to look at your voter registration card, if you knew where that was. A pretty handy alternative for Hamilton County residents would be to enter your street address in this form and then view, print, copy, or remember the results—but there is currently a problem with that site. (I’m placing a call to the Election Commission on Monday.) A really complicated way is to go to the county’s GIS mapping site, search for your address, then use the map layers to identify political boundaries. Ugh.

You can find your state and federal districts at VoteSmart. Enter your ZIP code at the top left. If, like mine, your ZIP code covers multiple districts, you can enter your ZIP+4 at the top right of the resulting page, and the results will narrow to just yours. Your congressional district and state legislative districts will be shown, but this won’t help you with city or county districts.

You can always ask me, and I will help. I have plenty of experience assisting others with finding districts and voting precincts.