Gloves come off: Nevada GOP’s move on redistricting draws howls from Dems

By Kyle Roerink

Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015 | 2 a.m.

It didn't take long for partisan politics to overshadow the prayers, songs and stilted harmony of the Legislature’s opening day.

Democrats contend that in the first hours of the session, Republicans diverted the Legislature's focus from education reform by introducing a bare-knuckle, partisan topic: redrawing political districts.

Republicans, in majority control of the Legislature, acknowledge they're exploring redistricting but say they are working to fix what’s proven to be a complicated, divisive process in the state.

Redistricting is the process of reconfiguring district boundaries to adjust for population shifts and maintain an equal number of representatives for residents in different geographic areas. Depending on how the boundaries are drawn, the process can be a major factor in winning elections, as parties have an opportunity to loop in areas with strong voter turnout and high concentrations of voters who traditionally support them. At the same time, one party can create a disadvantage for the other by leaving it with areas where voter turnout is traditionally weak.

“There’s nothing more partisan and political bloodsport than redistricting,” said Tim Storey, an elections analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The U.S. Constitution mandates states to redistrict every 10 years. Nevada and the majority of states redrew their lines in 2011 — a year after the last census — and are expected to do the same in 2021. The effort to thrust redistricting back in the spotlight has Democrats raising concerns about transparency and wondering why Republicans would prematurely address the matter.

On Monday, Republicans inserted the redistricting provisions into the joint legislative standing rules — wide-ranging guidelines for leadership, parliamentary practices and conflict-of-interest disclosure. Although the GOP submitted a bill that would create a legislative committee designed to debate redistricting, absent from the rules are public participation provisions that accompanied the redistricting framework in past sessions.

Sen. Aaron Ford, the Democratic minority leader, said the Republican move to omit the public participation guidelines was an affront to democracy. In 2011, the rules required officials to hold mandatory public hearings and make materials available to the public in Clark County and rural counties.

“It is embarrassing that one party believes the public shouldn’t be guaranteed a right to participate,” Ford said.

On Monday, after the Legislature opened amid ceremonial pomp, Senate Democrats voted against the standing rules, but they passed through the Republican majority. The Assembly approved the rules, but Democrats added an emergency provision allowing their party to offer alternative legislation if Republicans would decide to redraw lines.

Senate Republican leaders Michael Roberson and Ben Kieckhefer have both said they weren't planning to introduce bills to redraw the lines.

In 2011, the redistricting process wasn’t without its problems in Nevada. With Democrats in control, lawmakers redrew lines. Gov. Brian Sandoval vetoed their attempts, forcing the courts to outline the districts for the Legislature, U.S. House of Representatives, the Board of Regents and the Board of Education.

To prevent the political jockeying associated with redistricting, 13 states prohibit lawmakers from mapping districts and have non-partisan commissions redraw lines. Ohio, Indiana, illinois and others are considering doing the same, Storey said.

States seldom redraw lines twice in a decade. Texas did it in 2003. Colorado tried in 2010, but the state’s supreme court said it was unconstitutional.

Republican Party members indicated they didn’t want to redraw lines, saying they would prefer implementing a nonpartisan commission.

Assemblyman Lynn Stewart, R-Las Vegas and chairman of the Legislative Operations and Elections Committee, said he wants to have a study on a commission.

“One thing I don’t want to do is to redraw things for our benefit and then have the Democrats come into power and they draw things for their benefit,” he said. “I don’t want to go back and forth on that.”