By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The League of Women Voters in Kansas is making its voice heard regarding redistricting.
"Redistricting is necessary, because, in the last ten years, since the last decennial U.S. Census, populations in single member electoral districts have changed," said Mary Galligan with the League. "The lines need to be redrawn in order to be sure that each district is as close as possible to equal population."
There are Supreme Court cases in the 1960s that establish that courts are allowed to rule on redistricting and that populations should be approximately equal, but the law in Kansas gives elected officials power over the process.
"In Kansas, if we're talking about the legislative districts and the congressional districts and the state board of education districts, the legislature is charged with redrawing those lines and getting those districts back to where they have equal population again," Galligan said.
The League would like to see a different approach taken to the process.
"The League would like to see the districts in Kansas drawn by a non-partisan independent body that would enable the districts to be drawn without as much partisan consideration," Galligan said. "The fairness that the League talks about in this regard really goes to the degree to which, when legislators draw the districts, they've got some serious skin in the game, because they are elected from those districts."
Legislators who support the status quo assert that as long as it is a political body picking those who would sit on such a body, those people will still be political and all that adding a layer would do is decrease accountability of legislators to their constituents. For more information on Kansas redistricting specifically, go to ksfairmaps.org.