With their public hearings on the upcoming redrawing of district lines under way, Democratic leaders of the Indianapolis City-County Council are hearing renewed calls for the independent redistricting commission that they urged upon their counterparts in the Republican-led Indiana General Assembly. Council leaders have not agreed to the request. And while council policy director Brandon […]
Category Archives: Featured News
‘DO THE RIGHT THING:’ Reformers urge City-County Council to adopt independent redistricting
Common Cause Indiana and its allies are calling on the Democratic-controlled Indianapolis City-County Council to “do the right thing” and turn the redrawing of council districts into a nonpartisan affair. “That would really send a message that would resonate the five or six blocks that separate the City-County Building from the Statehouse,” the group’s policy […]
WHO’S RUNNING IN 2022? Follow the primary candidate filings and check back for updates
The votes won’t be counted until Nov. 8, but Indiana’s midterm election ballot already has begun taking shape. Republican and Democratic primary candidates for offices ranging from U.S. Senate to county councils began filing with the Indiana Secretary of State’s office on Jan. 5. The filing period ends at noon Friday, Feb. 4. The list […]
MORE DRAMA, TIGHTER DEADLINES: The scramble to redistrict locally continues along familiar battle lines. Some might not even bother.
The following report was written by veteran journalists Janet Williams and Bill Theobald for The Indiana Citizen. Nov. 18, 2021 Maybe you thought the political drama of redistricting was over for another decade. That would be wrong. Very wrong. It’s been more than six weeks since Gov. Eric Holcomb signed into law Indiana’s new congressional and legislative […]
A MOMENT OF TRUTH FOR INDY DEMOCRATS: Will the City-County Council’s redistricting follow the example of Bloomington or the Statehouse?
The story might be familiar by now: The once-a-decade duty of redistricting rests with a legislative supermajority, and calls for an independent, nonpartisan redrawing of district lines are ignored. It’s a story that just played out in the Indiana Statehouse, with a Republican-led juggernaut resulting in congressional and legislative districts already criticized as some of […]
REDISTRICTING, ROUND 2: At the local level, another chance for openness and fair maps
October 21, 2021 The introduction, passage and enactment of new congressional and state legislative district maps by the 148 state legislators in attendance and the Governor between Sept. 14 and Oct. 4 certainly provided the most visible evidence of the civic impact of the 2020 census. But that census also is causing hundreds of Hoosier […]
WELCOME TO MONROE COUNTY: Where citizens will be in charge of redistricting
Oct. 25, 2021 Continuing our coverage of this year’s redistricting process, the following report was written by veteran Bloomington journalist Steve Hinnefeld for The Indiana Citizen. Bloomington, Ind. — Earlier this month, Indiana’s Republican legislative supermajority wrapped up a decennial redistricting process that flat-out rejected the idea of having a nonpartisan, independent commission redraw the state’s congressional […]
A WHIMPER, NOT A BANG: Redistricting session comes to a subdued end with passage of Republican-drawn maps; Holcomb signs into law
The Indiana Statehouse, Friday, October 1, 2021. UPDATE: Gov. Eric Holcomb (above) on Monday signed into law House Bill 1581, the Republican-drawn redistricting of the state’s congressional and legislative district lines for the next decade. “Today I signed HB 1581, completing this once-in-a-decade constitutionally required process,” Holcomb said in a statement released by his office. […]
REDISTRICTING UPDATE: We’re losing the fight for fair maps
The following is written by Alan Mills, a member of the Indiana Citizen Education Foundation board of directors, as an update to his analysis, “Why racial justice requires fair maps,’’ published on August 31, 2021. Sept. 29, 2021 A month has passed since I shared some thoughts on the once-a-decade redistricting process and its implications […]
HOUSE PASSES NEW MAPS: Indiana Senate to vote on Republican redistricting plan next week
Sept. 23, 2021 The legislative responsibility of redistricting occurs only once every 10 years. It’s an important responsibility — organizing the state’s congressional and legislative electorate for the next 10 years — and a big one. In Indiana, there are 159 legislative and congressional districts to weigh against the latest U.S. Census. Thursday morning, […]