September 13, 2011 10:10 PM UTC

Reapportionment Commission Stalls

• 4 Comments
• by: AndrewBateman

The 11-Member Commission charged with redrawing Colorado’s legislative lines seems to have reached an impasse. Among many sources reporting, TimesCall.com reports on the Longmont component of the disagreement.

http://www.timescall.com/news/…

The commission’s adoption of a final reapportionment plan for Longmont and the rest of the state — final, unless the Colorado Supreme Court orders the panel back to the drawing board — could come next Monday.

That’s when Carrera said he’d like the commission, which has been working since May, complete its maps with new boundaries for the Colorado Legislature’s 65 House districts and 35 Senate districts.

For his part, Carrera said he’ll introduce his own House and Senate maps that will contain elements of the separate reapportionment plans presented thus far by the commission’s Republican and Democratic members. (Emphasis by me)

More After the Jump…

Prospective candidates across the state, like myself, are eagerly awaiting a final map so that we can begin to organize our constituencies or, for some, decide if they are willing to move to stay in the race. Because while the commission has corrected elements of the proposals that would have removed several legislators from their own districts, that courtesy has not been extended to new candidates, nor should it. But caucuses are coming up quick and the members of the commission owe it to the people of this state to come together and find a map that will be upheld by the supreme court so that the electoral process can continue smoothly.

But the sticking points seem to be very sticky indeed. It became clear just over a month ago that both Republicans and Democrats viewed Arapahoe and Jefferson Counties as the critical piece in a state-wide plan that would serve to create long-term majorities in the House and Senate.

This first showed up in the original hearings, as both sides professed “outrage” when the Democrats proposal was chosen for the Senate and the Republican’s proposal was chosen for the House.

Each side, which had been previously characterized as “extraordinarily civil”, started throwing around loaded words once Arapahoe County hit the agenda.

And as they toured the state, that pattern continued. The most contentious hearings were in Arapahoe and Jefferson Counties. With a few other hiccups, such as Longmont, along the way.

Now, the Commission Chairman, and the only independent on the commission, has said that neither side has got it quite right, and that he will be submitting his own maps by tomorrow’s deadline.

The commission will vote on which maps to send to the Supreme Court on Monday. Once they have the final proposals, the Supreme Court is empowered to simply approve the maps or not. Any adjustments necessary will have to be made by the commission if the court rejects one or both of the maps.

To learn more about the reapportionment process, view maps, or contact members of the commission, visit http://www.colorado.gov/Reappo…

People should write to the members of the commission and urge them to approve a map that meets the legal criteria so that we can all move forward in a timely manner.

As always, I am here to participate and answer questions, though I will admit now that I do not consider myself an expert on electoral mapping and I will most likely refer people to the commission staff for most questions.