Source: http://ift.tt/hFWySe - Sunday, March 01, 2015
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a reversal of the usual worries about political influence on electoral map-making, the Supreme Court is being asked to let raw politics play an even bigger role in the drawing of congressional district boundaries. The court hears argument Monday in an appeal by Republican lawmakers in Arizona against the state's voter-approved independent redistricting commission for creating the districts of U.S. House members. A decision striking down the commission probably would doom a similar system in neighboring California, and could affect districting commissions in 11 other states. The court previously has closed the door to lawsuits challenging excessive partisanship in redistricting, or gerrymandering. A gerrymandered district is intentionally drawn, and sometimes oddly shaped, to favor one political party. Independent commissions such as Arizona's "may be the only meaningful check" left to states that want to foster more competitive elections, reduce political polarization and bring fresh faces into the political process, the Obama administration said. The court fight has one odd aspect: California Republicans are rooting against Arizona Republicans. If the Republicans who control Arizona's Legislature prevail, the process for drawing district lines in California for the nation's largest congressional delegation, with 53 members, would returned to the heavily Democratic Legislature. Three former California governo
from Top News on RSS Feeds http://ift.tt/1G6vsmO
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a reversal of the usual worries about political influence on electoral map-making, the Supreme Court is being asked to let raw politics play an even bigger role in the drawing of congressional district boundaries. The court hears argument Monday in an appeal by Republican lawmakers in Arizona against the state's voter-approved independent redistricting commission for creating the districts of U.S. House members. A decision striking down the commission probably would doom a similar system in neighboring California, and could affect districting commissions in 11 other states. The court previously has closed the door to lawsuits challenging excessive partisanship in redistricting, or gerrymandering. A gerrymandered district is intentionally drawn, and sometimes oddly shaped, to favor one political party. Independent commissions such as Arizona's "may be the only meaningful check" left to states that want to foster more competitive elections, reduce political polarization and bring fresh faces into the political process, the Obama administration said. The court fight has one odd aspect: California Republicans are rooting against Arizona Republicans. If the Republicans who control Arizona's Legislature prevail, the process for drawing district lines in California for the nation's largest congressional delegation, with 53 members, would returned to the heavily Democratic Legislature. Three former California governofrom Top News on RSS Feeds http://ift.tt/1G6vsmO
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