Public Comments in Arizona Redistricting Hearings Should Matter. Will They?

The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC) is now in its final decision phase. After issuing its preliminary draft maps, the Commissioners listened to the public via 14 public meetings. Now they must use their collective judgment to decide on final maps, presumably taking into account what they have heard from the public. This is pretty … Read more

The IRC is ‘Packing and Cracking’ to Extend Republican Domination

The Independent Redistricting Commission is now in its final decision stage. The last of the 68 statewide meetings was held in Tucson on December 4. Tucson had more than 338 attendees with 132 speakers, where a Massive crowd protested a “safe” Republican district in Pima County. This is a more extended version of an Op-Ed … Read more

A Republican Redshirted Bully Harasses a Witness at a Public Hearing

Special to the Blog for Arizona A Republican woman in a red shirt bullied and traumatized a Democratic woman at the December 4 redistricting hearing for half an hour. Republicans standing in line at the hearing ignored her distress and did nothing to help. Finally, two military veterans, including me, got her to safety. The … Read more

Community of Interest Hypocrisy at Independent Redistricting Commission

As I observe the final deliberations of the Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC), I revisited the Communities of Interest Report on the IRC website. The “overlap count” puts any connection between Eastern Arizona towns (like Snowflake and Eagar) and Coconino County (Williams, Parks, Kachina Village, Bellemont) at the lowest of five ratings. There is zero community … Read more

AIRC Meets Thursday for Second Deliberation on New Districts: Voting Rights Act a Likely Driver

The second of eight “final decision meetings” schedule by the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. The meeting begins at 9:00 am on Thursday and you can follow along here.  You can comment using this link shortly after the meeting begins. Based on the Monday meeting it seems clear they realize the draft maps are problematic in terms of … Read more