Under Amendment 3 (SJR 38), both the House and Senate Independent Bipartisan Citizen Commissions charged with redistricting have 10 Republicans and 10 Democrats and must arrive at 70% agreement on a map within six months. Several tie votes at the House commission’s organizational meeting on Aug. 10 make it very likely that legislative map-drawing will go to a panel of six appellate judges. That’s not the way the majority of the citizens of Missouri wanted it to work.
A nonpartisan redistricting process would best serve the public. I would like to see a fair, civil and transparent process.
The General Assembly will draw the lines for Missouri’s eight congressional districts when it returns in January. I can only hope that the public will have ample opportunity to review and share input on draft maps for both congressional and legislative districts.
