Wyandotte County District Judge Bill Klapper ruled Monday that Kansas Republicans violated the state constitution by targeting residents on the basis of politics and race when drawing new congressional districts.
An attorney representing Kansas voters who feel their votes will be drowned out by new congressional districts urged a judge to block the map on grounds the GOP-dominated Legislature tore apart communities of interest for political benefit.
Dylan Lysen / Kansas News Service
A new map of congressional districts lumps Lawrence with deep-red western Kansas — all but nullifying the ballots of the blue voters here and proving once again the power of gerrymandering.
Opening arguments began Monday in a trial over a redistricting map that places Lawrence into the 1st District along with rural counties that border Colorado, about 385 miles west of town.
The Kansas Legislature sent to Gov. Laura Kelly a bundled bill Wednesday containing redistricting maps for the House, Senate and state Board of Education.
Kansas Senate leadership proposed Monday a redistricting map for the 10-member Kansas Board of Education that critics indicated unnecessarily placed four incumbents in head-to-head showdowns.
More than 50 people submitted testimony to the House Redistricting Committee urging modifications to the map titled Freestate 3, with debate largely centered on Leavenworth County districts, LGBTQ representation, and the need for further analysis.
A Kansas Senate panel approved a redistricting map despite pushback from Democrats and concerns from those testifying that legislators had allowed inadequate time for map analysis.
The redistricting showdown between Republicans and Democrats shifted Monday to the House with the introduction of the GOP’s map accommodating a decade’s worth of rural-to-urban population shift and adhering to the quest for partisan political advantage.
Republicans and Democrats along with a voter advocacy group introduced 3 competing redistricting maps outlining new boundaries for the 40 Kansas Senate districts in response to population shifts during the past decade.
