Editorial
Citizen voice would add equity in redistricting
One piece of business remained undone when lawmakers left the Statehouse last month. They are expected to return this fall, after reapportionment data is available, to approve the legislative and congressional maps in effect for the next decade. But lawmakers also left undone another much-needed piece of business: a better process for drawing those maps.
All IN for Democracy, a coalition of Indiana groups seeking to put map-drawing in the hands of an independent redistricting commission, will show them how to do it. With software available to anyone interested in participating, the Citizens Redistricting Commission will hold a competition with cash prizes for maps that best meet the criteria identified in public testimony as important in creating electoral districts.
Bloomington City Council looking for students to apply for redistricting commission idsnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from idsnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Opinion: Effective representation requires fair maps
Charles D. Taylor
Congressional and state legislative districts must be redrawn every 10 years following completion of the U.S. Census. Redistricting ensures that districts have nearly equal population, preserving the important constitutional principle of one person-one vote, but it also affects the ways that politicians represent their constituents’ interests.
Unfortunately, incumbent politicians often use their influence over redistricting to draw the new boundaries in ways that provide a particular party or group an unfair advantage in subsequent elections, a practice called “gerrymandering.” Throughout history, politicians of both parties have gerrymandered to meet various political goals: to protect all incumbents in bipartisan fashion, to protect the majority party by providing it with many uncompetitive “safe” districts at the expense of the minority party, or to dilute the voting power of racial or ethnic minor
Viewpoint: Ending gerrymandering is not right vs left It s right vs wrong southbendtribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from southbendtribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Citizens Redistricting Commission Hears Frustration Over Divided Counties
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Article origination Indiana Public Radio
A voting banner stands outside the North Side Gym in Elkhart in November 2020.
Justin Hicks / IPB News
A grassroots commission is gathering public input on how Hoosier lawmakers draw legislative districts ahead of 2021 redistricting. Those in the 6th congressional district say counties are being too broken up to matter to representatives.
The Indiana Citizens Redistricting Commission, made up of Democrats, Republicans, and non-partisan members, doesn’t have any official power to redraw district lines – lawmakers at the Statehouse do that. But it’s trying to show that putting redistricting in the hands of citizens will be better for Hoosiers.