Redistricting

Redistricting Change Failed: Ohio Issue 2 (2012)

Election Law Society · October 20, 2014 ·

By Christopher Keslar

In the 2012 elections, a Redistricting Amendment to the Ohio Constitution was put on the ballot. Known as Issue 2, the amendment would have created a commission of twelve citizens to draw legislative and congressional maps. The amendment was defeated at the ballot box by a resounding 63% against and 37% for the amendment. To many, partisan redistricting is only a polite way of saying gerrymandering, and this very process of the state legislature choosing who will essentially elect them is provided for in the Ohio Constitution. In fact, the Secretary of State of Ohio, John Husted, wrote in the Washington Post this February, “[I]f government is to be more responsive, it is not the people but the Ohio Constitution that needs to change.” However, it may very well be the case that John Husted was the reason for Issue 2 failing at the ballot box. [Read more…] about Redistricting Change Failed: Ohio Issue 2 (2012)

Gerrymandered or Court Ordered: The Second Re-Drawing Is the Charm for Florida’s Fifth

Election Law Society · September 26, 2014 ·

By: Jonathan Gonzalez

After the first round of judicial wrangling over two allegedly gerrymandered congressional districts, a Florida judge ordered on July 10^th 2014 that the Florida fifth and tenth districts be sent back to the drawing board. The dispute arose from the Florida House of Representative’s mandated redrawing of the state’s congressional districts under amendments to Florida’s constitution passed during the 2010 election cycle. The amendments were intended to ensure that legislative districts were drawn cohesively and without favoring any political party. The Republican controlled state legislature interpreted “cohesive” as a mandate to pack African American voters into one district.

Redistricting Reform Resurgence in the Badger State

Election Law Society · January 27, 2014 ·

By Alex Phillips

A proposal to adopt non-partisan redistricting for state and federal elections in Wisconsin is gaining momentum. Currently Wisconsin is one of twenty-four states where the state legislature is responsible for redistricting. As outlined in the Wisconsin Constitution, districts must be as compact as practicable and contiguous. They are also supposed to follow municipal ward lines when possible and three Assembly districts must be nested in each Senate district. [Read more…] about Redistricting Reform Resurgence in the Badger State

Who Draws the Lines? California Experiment Intact, For Now

Election Law Society · November 3, 2012 ·

by Nathan Yu and Chelsea Bobo

When American legislators sit down to redraw district lines it is difficult to disentangle this redistricting process from the evils of gerrymandering and other forms of partisan abuse. Perhaps the party members we elect should not be closely involved in determining what our electoral districts look like. This is the conclusion a slim majority of California voters reached four years ago with the approval of Proposition 11. Also known as the Voters FIRST Act, Proposition 11 set up the California Citizens Redistricting Commission (CCRC), an independent redistricting commission. [Read more…] about Who Draws the Lines? California Experiment Intact, For Now

Double Dipping? Kentucky Redistricting Plan Creates Dual District Voting

Election Law Society · October 29, 2012 ·

Every two years voters from around Kentucky flock to their precincts to select their member for the United States House of Representatives. As a result of months of candidates’ television and print ads, most voters know the number of their district. However, this year on November 6^thwhen Kentuckians from Bath, Fleming, Harrison, Nicholas, Robertson, and Scott counties open their ballots they will find candidate choices in two different congressional districts. Their ballots will look similar to this one, in that it will list a special election for the 4^th Congressional District and a general election for the 6^th Congressional District. Such an election peculiarity is not a print mistake by the State Board of Elections. Rather, the cause of this dual district voting is both Kentucky’s new redistricting plan and Representative Geoff Davis’s resignation from Congress. [Read more…] about Double Dipping? Kentucky Redistricting Plan Creates Dual District Voting