NONPOLITICAL? MORE LIKE HYPERPOLITICAL

posted by Michael Chihak

Give rural Arizona two congressional districts ... Maintain minority communities of interest ... Don't put Oro Valley in with the Navajo Nation ... Keep Pinal County in a single congressional district ... "Leave us alone; we're retired."

And many more admonitions, pieces of advice and aphorisms ("You cannot force people to speak to one another civilly") were offered to members of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission this week as it continued its public hearings.

The commission is workin toward production of its first draft maps of how to divide the state into nine congressional districts and 30 legislative districts.

Under the state constitution, it must consider six criteria, led by adherence to the U.S. Voting Rights Act and the one-person, one-vote rule.

Commissioner Scott Freeman and commission Executive Director Ray Bladine say they think draft maps will be produced within two weeks. Then the real fun begins.

As Freeman puts it: "People will then be able to tell us the error of our ways."

Following release of the draft maps will come a 30-day comment period, including more public hearings. Then the commission makes adjustments and submits the maps to the U.S. Justice Department for "preclearance" under the Voting Rights Act, a process that can take 60 days.

Assuming Justice Department approval, the maps will be put into use next spring by county officials who will begin setting up the 2012 elections.

That's a significant assumption; the Justice Department sent the maps back 10 years ago for adjustments.

Even if they are approved, lawsuits by parties claiming to have been wronged are likely to ensue. Last time out, it took nearly the whole decade for the last of the suits to be settled.