JEFFERSON CITY – To ensure public comment remains a valuable part of the House and Senate redistricting process, Senate Leader Robert N. Mayer, R-Dexter, urges Missourians throughout the state to go online and submit their thoughts on how the state’s 163 House and 34 Senate district boundaries will be drawn to reflect the state’s population shift over the past decade.
Currently, Missouri’s redistricting process is in the hands of an Appellate Apportionment Commission that is made up of six state appellate judges. Compared to the previous Appellate Apportionment Commission that met 10 years ago and held four hearings across the state in Columbia, St. Louis, Kansas City and Springfield, the Jefferson City hearing last week held by the current commission appears to be the only hearing that will be held during the redistricting process.
“This is a break from precedent set by apportionment commissions,” said Sen. Mayer. “As such, I believe that it is important to get word out to Missourians that they may still share their thoughts and voice their opinions on how lines will be drawn regarding the elected officials they send to the State Capitol to represent their best interests, despite the reduction in public hearings.”
An email address is now available to accept further public comment; all comments received will be reviewed by all six justices: redistrict{at}courts{dot}mo{dot}gov. The deadline to submit comments is the close of business day on Friday, Oct. 21, 2011.
“Public input has already been submitted by previously dissolved apportionment commissions and various state officials,” said Sen. Mayer. “I urge anyone who is interested in the redistricting process to share their thoughts by emailing the commission — public opinion should remain a factor when going forward with drawing new district boundary lines.”
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment