Even in a presidential election year when Democratic turnout escalates, Champaign County elections can be very competitive. Four years ago, when John Kerry won Champaign County by about 1,600 votes, Republican candidates won three of the five countywide races with totals of 51 percent, 56 percent and 58 percent of the vote. (The two Democratic winners received 56 percent and 62 percent in their races).

At the same time, Democrat Barack Obama won the U.S. Senate race in Champaign County with 65 percent and Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Johnson won the 15th Congressional District contest in the county with 53 percent.

The lesson here? Champaign County voters are ticket-splitters: independent-minded and open to electing who they perceive is the best candidate for the job, whether that candidate is a Republican, a Democrat, a man, a woman, black or white, incumbent or a challenger.

So while we can rejoice in the choices we will have in a number of local election races in 2008 – there are both Democratic and Republican candidates for state's attorney, coroner, circuit court clerk, auditor and recorder – there apparently will be no such choices in most of the nine county board districts.

That's because the county board's Democratic majority drew district maps that stuffed as many Republican voters as possible into four districts so that the other five would favor Democrats. And let's be clear; Republicans did the same kind of flagrant gerrymandering during the many decades they controlled the county board. So both parties are to blame.

As things now stand, there will be no Democratic candidates for county board in Districts 1, 2, 3 and 4, and no Republican candidates in Districts 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.

The only choices for voters will be in three districts where there will be primary election races (among Republicans in District 4 and among Democrats in Districts 6 and 9), and a single general election contest in District 7. There, two Green Party candidates are poised to run against two Democrats.

That Champaign district might end up being the only one of nine where voters next November will have any choice for the county board. That means that the Democratic-drawn map essentially disenfranchises eight-ninths of the county, giving voters little choice in selecting the best candidates and diminishing the quality of their county board representation.

Voters should hold candidates' feet to the fire and demand that the next time county board districts are drawn it be done with a computer program that not only guarantees compact and contiguous districts with equal representation but also that districts be competitive. That way, we'll attract more and better candidates and all voters will have a choice – not just the Democrats in overwhelmingly Democratic County Board District 6 where there are five candidates of their party for two seats, but no Green or Republican Party hopefuls.