Congressional Redistricting

Colorado Ballot Measure - Amendment Y

Election: Nov. 6, 2018 (General)

Outcome: Passed

Categories:

Elections
Legislative Branch

Summary


Amendment Y proposes amending the Colorado Constitution to:
*create the Independent Congressional Redistricting Commission, consisting of an equal number of members from each of the state's two largest political parties and unaffiliated voters, to amend and approve congressional district maps drawn by nonpartisan legislative staff;
*establish a process for selecting commissioners, new requirements for transparency and ethics, and a procedure for judicial review of commission maps; and
*establish and prioritize the criteria the commission must use for adopting the state's U.S. congressional district map.

Measure Text


Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution concerning a change to the way that congressional districts are drawn, and, in connection therewith, taking the duty to draw congressional districts away from the state legislature and giving it to an independent commission, composed of twelve citizens who possess specified qualifications; prohibiting any one political party's control of the commission by requiring that one-third of commissioners will not be affiliated with any political party, one-third of the commissioners will be affiliated with the state's largest political party, and one-third of the commissioners will be affiliated with the state's second largest political party; prohibiting certain persons, including professional lobbyists, federal campaign committee employees, and federal, state, and local elected officials, from serving on the commission; limiting judicial review of a map to a determination by the supreme court of whether the commission or its nonpartisan staff committed an abuse of discretion; requiring the commission to draw districts with a focus on communities of interest and political subdivisions, such as cities and counties, and then to maximize the number of competitive congressional seats to the extent possible; and prohibiting maps from being drawn to dilute the electoral influence of any racial or ethnic group or to protect any incumbent, any political candidate, or any political party?

Yes ( ) No ( )

Resources


Official Summary

Source
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