Colorado’s Reapportionment Commission (charged with drawing our state legislative districts) takes a time out for Independence Day week before resuming the summer schedule of meetings and hearing of public testimony for the final marathon round (covering six metro Denver counties) on 11 July in Denver.

The commission’s most recent meeting (27 June) discussed the preliminary district maps for state House and Senate districts for Region 4 (central Colorado - Custer, Clear Creek, Douglas, El Paso, Fremont, Gilpin, Park, and Teller Counties - public testimony on districts in that region actually occurred a week earlier, on 20 June).

According to the Colorado Springs Gazette’s report on Monday’s meeting,

Democrats won both rounds at the reapportionment commission meeting on Monday, when their maps for the state House and Senate were approved with the help of two of the five Republican commissioners.

Although the count differed by one vote, the ultimate outcome was the same:

The Democrats’ Senate map was approved 8-3, with two Republicans in support, and the Democrats’ House map passed 7-4, with one Republican in support. The commission’s unaffiliated chairman, Mario Carrera, sided with Democrats both times.

(Click here to view preliminary map for Region 4 Senate districts)

(Click here to view preliminary map for Region 4 House districts)

The commission is also heard public testimony on Larimer & Weld County districts; preliminary maps for those districts will be released and voted on at the next meeting of the commission on 11 July 2011, beginning at 9AM (meeting agenda TBA).

Click here for the full schedule of public hearings on state legislative districts.
Additional information is also available on the Reapportionment Commission website.

Additional references:

• Constitutional Provisions Controlling Reapportionment/Redistricting (state government website which collates relevant constitutional language on Congressional redistricting and state legislative reapportionment)

Clear The Bench Colorado will, with your support, continue to promote transparency and accountability in the Colorado judiciary, informing the public to increase awareness of the substantial public policy implications of an unrestrained activism and political agendas in the courts.  We will continue to work to educate voters and provide information of relevance related to the judicial branch, and to provide useful and substantive evaluations of judicial performance.

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