Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission Redrawing The Grid Maps...TWO VAGUE CRITERIA: "Communities of Interest" + "Competitiveness"

At a quick glance it doesn't look like the difficulty of defining two metrics is going anywhere anytime soon. . .

A new legal argument emerges

Recent comments by Erika Neuberg, the commission’s independent chairwoman, have raised the possibility that competitiveness will be more of a focus than the AIRC has previously indicated.

Neuberg had always held fast to the interpretation that competitiveness is contingent on not hindering the other criteria. But on Oct. 4, the first time the AIRC began adjusting the lines that will eventually become the new districts, she said that in order to respect communities of interest — one of the other five criteria — the commission may need to prioritize competitiveness. Without competitive districts, communities of interest in one-party districts may be disenfranchised, she said.

Neuberg later told the Arizona Mirror that when she first began her work on the commission, she viewed the criteria as more of a hierarchy. But as she heard from Arizonans during the commission’s statewide tour, she concluded that some communities of interest are disenfranchised if the lack of competition in their districts is “too severe.”

“That rises to that higher-level constitutional criteria. So from my perspective I look at all six. . ."

Legislative control may hang in the balance as redistricting rekindles competitiveness fight

By: Jeremy Duda - October 15, 2021 8:55 am

Members of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission met Oct. 4, 2021, in the Phoenix city council chambers to discuss initial changes to the grid maps approved the previous month.

L to R: Shereen Lerner, Derrick Watchman, Erika Neuberg, David Mehl, Douglas York. Photo by Jeremy Duda | Arizona Mirror

"As the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission draws the state’s new congressional and legislative maps, the debate over competitiveness is once again moving to the forefront. 

The decennial battle over competitiveness at the AIRC is fraught with partisan overtones. The stakes are high for both parties, especially when it comes to the legislative districts that the state will use for the next 10 years. 

> For Democrats, competitiveness represents at least a potential opportunity to win control of the legislature, which has been in GOP hands for an almost unbroken stretch dating to the 1960s. More competitiveness often makes for less proportional outcomes, which aids minority parties. Republicans make up about 35% of the electorate in Arizona, while Democrats are about 32%.

> Many advocates also view competitiveness as a way to get the extremes out of politics. In a district where a candidate must appeal to the center, not just to the left or the right, more moderate lawmakers are likely to get elected, they say. . .

 

. . .Because voter registration is such an imperfect way to measure competitiveness, especially given the rise of independent voters, who now make up nearly a third of the electorate in Arizona, redistricting commissions often use more complex formulas based on voter performance. The current AIRC will use two metrics based on voter performance in statewide races in 2016, 2018 and 2020."