Any euphoria members of the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission may have felt over the U.S. Justice Department pre-approval last Thursday of the state’s new legislative boundaries was likely gone when lawsuits were filed in state and federal courts just 24 hours later against both the state’s legislative and congressional district maps.
Friday afternoon, lawyers representing two groups of Republican plaintiffs filed lawsuits seeking a court order to invalidate what they term the “unconstitutional and partisan” legislative and congressional district boundaries approved by the IRC.
“Each map is just plagued with problems,” said Mike Liburdi, an attorney with Snell & Wilmer in Phoenix.
“Both the U.S. and Arizona Constitution require that legislative districts be equal in population–or as nearly equal as practicable. Yet, the legislative districts created by the IRC are unjustifiably unequal,” Liburdi and attorneys Wesley Harris, Lisa Hauser and Vince Leach wrote in a statement issued following the filings.
“The IRC’s pattern of overpopulating some districts and underpopulating others proves the IRC 1) operated with an improper partisan bias, 2) flagrantly violated its legal obligation to be independent, 3) and intentionally violated the U.S. and Arizona Constitutions,” the group contends.
Those bringing the suit said the district population manipulation gives Democrats an unfair advantage.
In their lawsuit, the filers contend the IRC “designed bizarre-shaped districts, glaring examples being Legislative District 6, which cobbles together parts of Coconino, Yavapai, Gila and Navajo counties, and Congressional District 4, which stretches from Bullhead City to Florence to Yuma.”
Liburdi said one of the issues of contention is the claim that the IRC illegally abandoned the grid map that serves as a starting point for designating district boundaries.
The IRC, Liburdi explains, should start with a randomly generated grid map and adjust the lines to preserve communities of interest and conform to other criteria.
“What you can’t do is start from a blank slate and draw the lines in a way that suits your political interest,” Liburdi said, which is what the plaintiffs assert the IRC did.
The lawsuit names the IRC and its members as defendants, including Colleen Mathis, Linda C. McNulty, Jose M. Herrera, Scott D. Freeman and Richard Stertz. The lawsuit also names Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett.
