Judge tosses legislative districts
01/17/2004
Arizona Daily Sun
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PHOENIX -- A state judge on Friday threw this year's legislative elections into chaos, blocking the state from using the current boundaries to elect lawmakers.
In a 55-page ruling, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Fields ruled that the Independent Redistricting Commission violated constitutional requirements by crafting districts without proper consideration for a requirement that, to the extent possible, they be made politically competitive. He said that violated the rights of some Arizonans who sued -- mainly a coalition of Hispanics and Democrats -- who said the resulting maps were not fair.
Fields also said that commissioners did not bother to define the constitutional terms which they were required to use when deciding where to draw lines. The judge said that without those definitions "the commission did not apply uniform standards to ensure uniform treatment of Arizona voters during the redistricting process."
But what the commission did, Fields said, was the one thing it was constitutionally prohibited from doing: considering and identifying where incumbents live before they adopted their final plan.
Fields blocked the state from conducting any elections using the current legislative plan. That is bound to cause problems because lawmakers and challengers already are circulating petitions for election within the districts that they believe they represent.
He also ordered the commission to reconvene and, within 45 days, adopt a new plan to be used this coming year and through the 2010 election.
The judge said if the commission fails to act he will appoint an independent special master -- essentially an arbiter -- to create a plan that complies with the constitution.
Commission attorney Lisa Hauser said she expects her clients to appeal.
In the same order, the judge rejected challenges to the lines by the city of Flagstaff , which had complained about being included in a district dominated by the Navajo Nation -- and being separated from its suburbs.
But Hauser said that by voiding the map because of insufficient competitive districts, the judge essentially has reopened the debate on all 30 legislative districts. That is because a change in the lines of one or more districts will affect others as they, too, have to be adjusted to keep population equal and comply with other laws.
Friday's ruling is a defeat for Republicans who found that the lines adopted two years ago by the commission gave them more "safe" districts where the party had a strong voter edge than they had in the prior decade.
While the court order does not pre-ordain any specific new lines, the judge, in his order, left it clear that, at the very least, there should be more districts where Democrats have at least a fighting chance of getting elected.
And that could affect the balance at the Legislature where the GOP controls the Senate on a 17-13 margin and the House by 39-20, with one independent.
Sen. Dean Martin, R-Phoenix, said the ruling came at the worst possible time for legislative candidates.
"This is right when most candidates are starting to collect (nomination) signatures and declaring their intent to run," Martin said. He said the result could be fewer candidates on the ballot in the November general election.
"The longer those districts are up in the air, the less opportunity people will have to get into races," Martin said. "The longer this plays out, the more incumbent-friendly this is, unless you are drawn into another incumbent's district."
Rep. Michele Reagan, R-Scottsdale, said the uncertainty also could have national implications, as district committees for the political parties elect their leaders according to the district maps.
"This is a lot bigger than the just state elections," Reagan said. "It's going to leave, obviously, not just candidates but a lot of districts in limbo when they are getting ready for the 2004 presidential election, among other things."
But Rep. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix, a member of the coalition that filed suit, dismissed such concerns. He pointed out that district maps weren't set until three months before the 2002 primary.
"There's plenty of time for the IRC to sit down, redraw the map, get public input and let the candidates know where the lines are," Gallardo said.
In 2000 voters created the commission to draw congressional and legislative districts rather than having that work done by state lawmakers.
The constitutional amendment requires the five-member commission to create districts that are generally equal in population. The districts also must be "geographically compact and contiguous" and "respect communities of interest" to the extent possible.
And the districts also must comply with the federal Voting Rights Act, which precludes any changes that dilute minority voting strength.
The final plan was challenged by a coalition of Democrats and Hispanics upset that a majority of the districts created are populated largely with Republicans. That group contends the commission paid little heed to the mandate to create competitive districts when possible.
Hauser had argued that the requirement for competitiveness was subordinate to the others and that the commission could not have created more competitive districts without harming other factors like minority voting strength.
Fields disagreed, pointing to a proposal crafted by the two Democratic commissioners that actually would have created seven competitive districts. He said the adopted plan, however, had only four.
The judge said that broke faith with voters.
"The public was entitled to rely upon representations contained in the publicity pamphlet that the stated purpose of Proposition 106 was to increase competitiveness and create fair legislative districts," he said.
Hauser blasted the judge's ruling. "I would submit we read the constitution a helluva lot better than he did," she said.
She also chided Fields for his 45-day deadline to not only come up with new district lines but also to first come up with definitions for terms like "communities of interest." She said there is no way with that short a time line all this can be done with sufficient public input, calling that "reprehensible."
Friday's ruling does not affect the lines for the state's eight congressional districts, also drawn by the commission. The judge said while the commission also violated the requirements for competitiveness, there was no way to redraw the lines without diluting minority voting strength which, in turn, would violate the federal Voting Rights Act.
Le Templar of Tribune Newspapers contributed to this report