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Thirteen states around the nation have created redistricting commissions. Could Indiana be next?
State Sen. Mike Delph, R-Carmel, saw Senate Concurrent Resolution 95 pass out of the Senate by a voice vote (after passing committee unanimously) and now awaits action in the Indiana House. It is a concept that counts Gov. Mitch Daniels and House Minority Leader Brian Bosma as potential supporters.
Indiana's current Congressional maps and what a more compact map might look like.
“It’s my hope that through an in-depth study of latest available technology, we will be able to improve the process and find a redistricting solution that maximizes voter participation while keeping communities with like interests together,” Delph said. “Our districts should allow Hoosier voters to choose their elected officials instead of elected officials choosing their voters.”
If the House allows this resolution to pass (which, as with most reform legislation, is questionable), the obvious starting point for study is Iowa, which has had a non-partisan redistricting commission since 1981. Since 1980, Iowa has used a non-partisan redistricting service, called the Legislative Service Bureau. Even though the state legislature twice rejected the bureau’s maps in 1981 and ultimately drew up its own, Iowa lawmakers have generally accepted the bureau’s proposals. Most importantly, no district voting lines have been drawn by the courts since the 1980 legislation was passed.
The Iowa Legislative Services Bureau develops three plans that can be accepted or rejected by the legislature.
According to Centrist.org, the four criteria for the bureau’s plans, in descending order of importance, are:
1. Population equality.
2. Contiguity.
3. Unity of counties and cities (maintaining county lines and “nesting” house districts within senate districts and senate districts within congressional districts).
4. Compactness.
Currently not a single Congressional district splits up any of Iowa’s 99 counties.
In order to make as much information as possible regarding the redistricting process available to the public, three public hearings are required to be held on the first proposed plan from the Legislative Service Bureau. Additionally, Iowans can request paper maps depicting proposed district lines from the bureau.
A commission consisting of four civilian members chosen by each caucus in the legislature and a fifth chairperson, chosen by the commission itself, is responsible for advising the bureau, but only upon the bureau’s request. If the legislature does not approve the first three plans by the bureau, it must itself approve a plan by Sept. 1, or the Iowa Supreme Court will take responsibility for the state districts. The Governor has veto power over plans, regardless of how they are developed.
Political Impact: Since 1981, the Iowa Legislature has been quick to accept the Legislative Service Bureau’s plans. Its recommendations may be inconvenient to incumbent state legislative leaders and members of Congress, who are often placed in very competitive districts, but that only highlights the perception that they are fair and nonpartisan, Centrist.org observed.
During the last redistricting, the Iowa legislature rejected the bureau’s first plan but accepted the second. As Centrist.org observed, “Four out of Iowa’s five new congressional districts are fairly evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans, mirroring the state’s overall makeup. Only the 5th district, which runs down the state’s western border, has a solid majority of Republican voters.
Iowa is likely to lose a congressional seat in the 2010 census while Indiana is projected to keep its nine seats.
Ohio draws its legislative maps via the Ohio Apportionment Board, which convenes every 10 years following the census, draws the single-member legislative districts for the Ohio General Assembly. Each of the 33 Senate districts comprises three contiguous districts of the 99 House of Representatives districs. The board has five members: the governor, secretary of state, state auditor, a member selected by the House Speaker and Senate leader, and a member selected by the House and Senate leaders of the other party. This format ensures that no party can hold all five seats. At least one seat will belong to the minority party. It has an Oct. 5, 2011, deadline.
The Ohio legislature draws the congressional maps. The state is facing the loss of two congressional seats following the 2010 census, the most of any of the 50 states.
Here are how the other 11 states draw their maps:
Alaska: Governor appoints two; then president of the Senate appoints one; then speaker of the House appoints one; then chief justice of the Supreme Court appoints one. At least one member must be a resident of each judicial district. No member may be a public employee or official. It must produce a plan 90 days after the census is officially reported.
Arizona: The commission on appellate court appointees creates a pool of 25 nominees, 10 from each of the two largest parties and five not from either of the two largest parties. The highest ranking officer of the House appoints one from the pool, then the minority leader of the House appoints one, then the highest ranking officer of the Senate appoints one, then the minority leader of the Senate appoints one. These four appoint as chair a fifth from the pool, not a member of any party already represented on the commission. If the four deadlock, the commission on appellate court appointments appoints the chair.
Arkansas: Commission consists of the governor, secretary of state, and the attorney general.
Colorado: Legislature selects four: (speaker of the House; House minority leader; Senate majority and minority leaders; or their delegates). Governor selects three. Judiciary selects four. Maximum of four from the legislature. Each congressional district must have at least one person, but no more than four people representing it on the commission. At least one member must live west of the Continental Divide.
Hawaii: President of the Senate selects two. Speaker of the House selects two. Minority Senate party selects two. These eight select the ninth member, who is the chair. No commission member may run for the legislature in the two elections following redistricting. It has a deadline 150 days after commission formation.
Idaho: Leaders of two largest political parties in each house of the legislature each designate one member; chairs of the two parties whose candidates for governor received the most votes in the last election each designate one member. No member may be an elected or appointed official in the state at the time of designation. Its deadline is 90 days after the commission is organized, or after census data is receive, whichever is later.
Missouri: There are two separate redistricting committees. Governor picks one person from each list of two submitted by the two main political parties in each congressional district to form the House committee. Governor picks five people from two lists of 10 submitted by the two major political parties in the state to form the Senate committee. No commission member may hold office in the legislature for four years after redistricting. It must complete restricting within six months.
Montana: Majority and minority leaders of both houses of the Legislature each select one member. Those four select a fifth, who is the chair. Members cannot be public officials. Members cannot run for public office in the two years after the completion of redistricting. Its deadline is 30 days after the plan is returned by the Legislature.
New Jersey: The chairs of the two major parties each select five members. If these 10 members cannot develop a plan in the allotted time, the chief justice of the state Supreme Court appoints an 11th member. The initial deadline is one month after the 11th member is picked.
Pennsylvania: Majority and minority leaders of the legislative houses each select one member. These four select a fifth as chair. If they fail to do so within 45 days, a majority of the state Supreme Court selects the fifth member. The chair cannot be a public official. The deadline is 30 days after the last public exception that is filed against the initial plan.
Washington: Majority and minority leaders of the House and Senate each select one. These four select a non-voting fifth to chair the commission. If they fail to do so by Jan. 1, 2011, the state Supreme Court will select the fifth by Feb. 5, 2011. No commission member may be a public official. It has a Jan. 1, 2012 deadline.
Advisory Commissions
Maine: Speaker of the House appoints three. House minority leader appoints three. President of the Senate appoints two. Senate minority leader appoints two. Chairs of two major political parties, or their designees. The members from the two parties represented on the commission each appoint a public member, and the two public members choose a third public member. The commission must submit its plan to the Legislature within 120 days after the Legislature convenes in 2013. The Legislature must enact the plan, or another plan, by a 2/3 vote of both houses within 30 days after it receives the commission’s plan. Within 60 days after the Legislature fails to meet its deadline, the supreme judicial court must adopt a plan.
Vermont: Chief justice appoints the chair; governor appoints one member from each political party that received 25 percent of the vote in the last gubernatorial election; those parties each select one. Secretary of state is secretary of the board but does not vote. No commissioner may be a member or employee of the legislature. By May 15, 2011, the legislature must adopt the plan or a substitute at that biennial session.
Backup Commissions
Connecticut: President pro tem of the Senate, Senate minority leader, speaker of the House, and House minority leader each select two; these eight must select the ninth within 30 days. This commission kicks in after legislature fails to meet deadline (Sept. 15, 2011) and must produce a plan by Nov. 30, 2011.
Illinois: President of the Senate, Senate minority leader, speaker of the House, and House minority leader each select two, one of whom is a legislator and the other is not. No more than four from the same party. If the commission fails to develop a plan by Aug. 10, 2010, the state Supreme Court selects two persons not of the same political party, one of whom is chosen by lot to be the ninth member. It kicks in on July 10, 2011 if the legislature fails to meet its deadline of June 30.
Mississippi: Chief justice of Supreme Court is chair; attorney general, secretary of state, speaker of the House, president pro tem of the Senate. This commission begins after legislature fails to meet deadline (60 days after end of second regular session following decennial census). It has 180 days after special apportionment session adjourns.
Oklahoma: Attorney general, superintendent of public instruction, and state treasurer commence after legislature fails to meet deadline (90 days after convening first regular session following decennial census). There are no deadlines for this commission.
Texas: Lieutenant governor, speaker of the House, attorney general, comptroller of public accounts, and commissioner of the general land office convene within 90 days after legislature fails to meet deadline (adjournment of the first regular session following decennial census). It must produce a plan 60 days after formation.
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