Supreme Court To Weigh Power Of Redistricting Commissions
Via NPR
Take a look at a congressional district map, and it can look like a madman’s jigsaw puzzle. The reason is, in part, that the district lines are drawn by state legislators seeking to maximize partisan advantage. It’s a process that critics say is responsible for much that’s wrong with Washington.
That’s why some states have tried setting up independent commissions to draw the map. Arizona voters created such a commission in 2000. But when the commission chair displeased the governor and state Senate, they tried, unsuccessfully, to remove her.
The power of the commission to draw district lines has now reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which could hand that power back to the legislators in Arizona, California, and a dozen other states.
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