Name: Question of independent redistricting in Oklahoma could land on 2022 ballot
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Question of independent redistricting in Oklahoma could land on 2022 ballot

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Carmen Forman Supporters of independent redistricting tweaked and refiled Monday an initiative petition seeking to take redistricting power away from Oklahoma's GOP-controlled Legislature. seeks to qualify the petition for the statewide ballot in 2022 after the coronavirus pandemic complicated efforts to qualify the measure for a vote this year.If passed, the new petition seeks to alter Oklahoma's constitution to immediately form an independent redistricting commission that would promptly redraw the state's legislative and congressional districts. Previously, People Not Politicians sought to qualify for the ballot this year in order to implement an independent redistricting commission in time for Oklahoma's 2021 redistricting.If the measure passes in 2022, the Citizens' Independent Redistricting Commission would redraw maps drawn by legislators a year prior. The new maps would take effect in 2024.Oklahoma's Legislature draws the state's legislative and congressional districts every decade following the U.S. Census. House and Senate members have already started gearing up for the upcoming redistricting process.“Our goal is to put this measure to a vote of the people as quickly as we can so that we can end partisan gerrymandering once and for all," said People Not Politicians executive director Andy Moore. "Oklahomans have had to suffer with gerrymandered maps drawn by politicians for long enough; voters deserve to have fair maps drawn by an independent commission of Oklahoma citizens who don’t have a conflict of interest with the outcome."People Not Politicians seeks to eliminate the possibility of partisan gerrymandering by forming a nine-member independent redistricting commission made up of non-elected officials from various political parties.Oklahoma House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, and Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, opposed a previous version of the petition. The legislative leaders cheered when that petition was .Treat accused People Not Politicians of spreading false information about the legislative redistricting process by saying the Legislature conducts redistricting "behind closed doors." The Senate is committed to an open and transparent redistricting process that allows for citizen involvement, he said."It may be a new proposal, but it’s the same old, misdirected idea: a redistricting coup to rearrange Oklahoma to make it easier for liberal politicians to get elected," Treat said. "This is a poor solution in search of a nonexistent problem and hopefully will be rejected by Oklahomans.”People Not Politicians withdrew and tweaked its initiative petition so, if passed, the independent redistricting commission can get started as soon as possible instead of having to wait until Oklahoma's next redistricting cycle in 2030.The group initially filed its initiative petition in October 2019, but was held up by two court challenges seeking to have the measure bounced from the ballot. When the time came to collect the 177,958 signatures necessary to qualify for the ballot, Oklahoma's Secretary of State had due to the pandemic.The redistricting petition details the selection process for choosing commissioners, their qualifications, redistricting criteria and what happens if commissioners cannot agree on new maps.The Legislature would be forbidden from altering the commission or trying to usurp its redistricting powers.

Carmen Forman Supporters of independent redistricting tweaked and refiled Monday an initiative petition seeking to take redistricting power away from Oklahoma's GOP-controlled Legislature. seeks to qualify the petition for the statewide ballot in 2022 after the coronavirus pandemic complicated efforts to qualify the measure for a vote this year.If passed, the new petition seeks to alter Oklahoma's constitution to immediately form an independent redistricting commission that would promptly redraw the state's legislative and congressional districts. Previously, People Not Politicians sought...

Question of independent redistricting in Oklahoma could land on 2022 ballot

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