Minnesota Court Rejects Partisan Maps

Court Drawn Maps are Fair

For too long the redistricting process has been dominated by the political parties. For the first time, a Minnesota court has given the public a real voice in the process redistricting process.

Today, Minnesota’s special redistricting panel rejected the partisan maps drawn by the DFL (Democratic-Farm Labor) and GOP parties. Instead, the court adopted a “least change” philosophy to minimize confusion to voters, choosing maps based on the data from the last census that make each congressional and legislative district approximately equal in population.

We applaud the court for developing these fair redistricting maps. Not only do the court maps reject the partisan maps proposed by the political parties, but the process here clearly demonstrated how the redistricting process could have been gerrymandered.

The court recognized the value of public participation in the process through testimony and, fFor the first time in Minnesota history, allowed the public to draw and submit maps for consideration. The court said, “We are heartened by and grateful for the level of civic engagement reflected in the public’s participation in the hearing-and-comment process, and we favorably acknowledge the assistance provided.”

Minnesota residents can find their congressional and legislative districts online.

Common Cause Minnesota will release a more complete analysis of the maps in the coming days.