LINCOLN — Nebraska needs to decide this year how the state will go about redrawing political boundaries in two years, a legislative committee was told Thursday.
“This is the year to do it. We don’t want to wait until 2020 when it is a political (election) year,” said State Sen. John McCollister of Omaha.
Fellow Omaha Sen. Sara Howard warned that failing to put some guidance in place now would lead to a political nightmare down the road, when lawmakers are required to redo political districts following the next federal census.
The two were among four lawmakers who laid out redistricting proposals at a hearing before the Legislature’s Executive Board.
Both said they want to create a process that is fair and nonpartisan and that provides for citizen involvement.
They contrasted their ideas with Nebraska’s past redistricting processes, which have differed every decade and resulted in a court battle in 1992.
Donna Roller of Lincoln endorsed their goals, especially the value of citizen participation.
“There’s nothing more important than my vote, and I want our elections to be fair and everyone to be equally represented,” she said.
>> Legislative Bill 253, introduced by McCollister, would create an independent citizen commission to draw up new district boundary proposals for U.S. Congress, the Legislature, the Public Service Commission, the Nebraska Supreme Court, the State Board of Education and the University of Nebraska…
