REDISTRICTING IN 2022: In a lopsided and bipartisan vote, City-County Council approves its new maps
The following report from Indianapolis Recorder writer Tyler Fenwick was first published in the Recorder, and is shared through The Indiana Citizen redistricting reporting project. The Indianapolis City-County Council voted to approve new local voting districts May 2, bringing an “...”
A NEW VOICE FOR REFORM: In northern Indiana city of Goshen, mayor’s call leads to independent redistricting commission
Goshen has joined the very short list of Indiana cities that are turning to citizen commissions to take at least some of the politics out of redistricting. The northern Indiana city of 35,000 will establish a commission to redraw its five city council election districts in respon “...”
Sheila Kennedy commentary: Diagnosing democracy’s illness
A few days ago, I was in a small meeting devoted to civic education. Attendees included some very smart, very savvy individuals, all of whom were veterans of the longstanding effort to increase civic knowledge and civic literacy. But when the individual who had convened this part “...”
ADVANTAGE INCUMBENTS: With election commission rulings, nearly half of legislators seeking reelection are unopposed in either party
UPDATE: The list of candidates in Indiana’s May 3 party primaries grew shorter — and the list of unchallenged incumbents grew longer — as the Indiana Election Commission reviewed more than 20 challenges to ballot qualifications during a long and at times noisy m “...”
RESPONSE ON INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING: State hasn’t changed the law, and ‘our council has followed state statute’
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 Indian “...”
‘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 “...”
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 “...”
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 s “...”
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 Republi “...”
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 c “...”