Ballot issue may be proposed as redistricting fix

As if they won’t have enough on their plates when they convene next month, lawmakers will have to address a redistricting plan that must be in place before the 2020 Census results are known.
They’ll have to find a veto-proof way to avoid partisan bickering and the inevitable gerrymandering that usually accompany such work.
Given the difficulty of the process and the known gubernatorial resistance to a citizen’s commission, there is talk of placing the issue on the 2020 ballot. Several states have already done that successfully. A recent challenge to redistricting in Wisconsin was sent back to the lower courts by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Gerrymandering is the manipulation of political boundaries to favor one party or candidate. It happened in Nebraska in 1991 in an upheaval that negated the election in one district, wound up in court and still resulted in a loss for the alleged perpetrator who was chairman of the Legislature’s Government and Military Affairs Committee and had hoped to ensure his re-election.
In 1991, the Legislature passed a bill that, among other things, divided Madison County between two legislative districts, each of which incorporates portions of other counties, as well.

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