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Montana Public Asked to Suggest Criteria for Drawing Legislative Districts

A bipartisan group tasked with drawing the political boundaries that are used to determine representation in the state Legislature will hold a series of public hearings across the state in April.

The Districting and Apportionment Commission is responsible for mapping new legislative district boundaries to reflect population changes identified by the 2010 census. The hearings in April will not involve maps but will focus on the criteria the commission uses to redraw those boundaries.

"Redrawing the lines of political districts cuts right to the heart of democracy," said Jim Regnier, chair of the five-member commission. "That’s why the commissioners want to hear from the public early in the process, even before we start drawing those lines."

The commission is required to use a set of mandatory districting criteria established in the U.S. and Montana constitutions, as well as case law established through court rulings. Under these mandatory criteria, legislative districts must be, among other things, compact and contiguous and as close to equal in population as is practicable.

But the commission has the discretion to choose other criteria to guide it in making the inevitable choices that come with drawing political boundaries. These could include:

* following the lines of existing political units, such as cities, counties, and voting districts;

* following geographic boundaries, such as rivers and mountain ranges;

* keeping intact communities of interest, such as Indian reservations or urban neighborhoods;

* considering political fairness, including impact on incumbent legislators;

* considering existing legislative districts; and

* considering interests of rural and urban areas.

The commission will adopt districting criteria at a meeting April 27 at the State Capitol in Helena. It will use these criteria to map the legislative districts that will be used beginning in 2014.

The public will first have a chance to influence the criteria the commission uses at the following public hearings:

* April 8, Helena, Great Falls, and Havre: 6:30 p.m., Room 152, State Capitol, or by videoconference from Room B-133, Great Falls College of Technology, or Room 202, MSU-Northern Hagener Science Center. This meeting also will be broadcast over the legislative Web site at leg.mt.gov and over TVMT, the state public access television network. To find the TVMT channel in your area, visit leg.mt.gov/tvmt.

* April 12, Missoula and Kalispell: 6:30 p.m., Room 104, Gallagher Business Building, University of Montana, or by videoconference from Room LC-120, Flathead Valley Community College.

* April 19, Billings and Miles City: 6:30 p.m., first floor conference room, MSU-Billings downtown campus, or by videoconference from Room 313, Miles Community College.

For more information about the commission, visit leg.mt.gov/districting or contact Rachel Weiss, 406-444-5367 or [email protected] .

Members of the Districting Commission in addition to Regnier, Lakeside, are Jon Bennion, Clancy; Joe Lamson, Helena; Pat Smith, Missoula; and Linda Vaughey, Helena.

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