Hoosiers Criticize Indiana’s legislative redistribution plan and process; plead for “fair” cards | Politics
Christopher Harris, of Hammond, a member of the Indiana Citizen Redistribution Commission, urged the Senate Elections Committee on Monday to take the time to consider the various redistribution proposals submitted to the committee, rather than rushing into it. law a proposal designed by Republicans that benefits Republicans in Indiana. elections for the next 10 years.
State Senator Eric Koch, R-Bedford, speaks to the Senate Elections Committee on Monday in support of the House-approved redistribution plan in Bill 1581 for which he is the Senate godfather.
Gary schools activist Robert Buggs told the Senate Elections Committee on Monday that he believes the redistribution process is preventing Steel City residents from regaining control of Gary Community School Corp. Gary’s schools were taken over by the state in 2017 to keep them from going insolvent after years of financial mismanagement.
Hoosiers complained on Monday about Indiana’s redistribution plans and process to the Senate Elections Committee.
For more than two hours, citizens across the state, including northwest Indiana, criticized the Republican-led panel for drawing up new legislative district boundaries that are almost certain to maintain dominance. Republican on state government for another 10 years.
The complaints included very specific issues with the way certain districts were drawn, particularly the division of the metro areas of Evansville, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis and Lafayette to combine small parts of each city with large rural areas, rather than to keep more of each city together as individual Indiana House or Senate districts.
At the same time, most of those testifying against Bill 1581 in the marble-walled Senate Chamber challenged the new maps drawn only by Republicans, behind closed doors, with limited input from Hoosier voters, and barely enough time for Hoosiers to really understand the redistribution plans.
“Instead of inspiring public confidence, the process of redistributing the legislature is undermining it,” said Julia Vaughn, policy director for Common Cause Indiana.
The Republican Majority Caucus in the Indiana House of Representatives has released its plan for new congressional districts. T
Many Hoosiers urged the panel to slow down, present the proposed maps to public hearings statewide, and spend time looking at other redistribution options, such as maps designed through the Commission of redistricting of citizens of Indiana, non-partisan.
