Connie Brown Collins felt ecstatic when a Wyandotte County judge recently struck down a congressional redistricting map drawn by the Republican-led Kansas Legislature.
The Kansas City, Kansas, resident said she and others repeatedly told lawmakers that the map unfairly split racially diverse Wyandotte County into two separate congressional districts. They argued the districts were drawn to drown out their votes to help Republican candidates win elections in all four of the state’s congressional districts.
Additionally, residents in Lawrence made a similar argument about shifting the Democratic stronghold into the deep-red 1st District that represents western Kansas.
It took a first-of-its-kind ruling from District Court Judge Bill Klapper to, for now, strike down the map.
“Now that the ruling has been handed down,” said Brown Collins, a plaintiff in the case, “I’m just very, very happy.”
Now the state has appealed Klapper’s ruling to the Kansas Supreme Court.
The state’s highest court is scheduled to take up the case in May. That sets the stage for the justices to issue a landmark ruling on how far one political party in Kansas can gerrymander congressional districts.
But the justices will need to act quickly to meet a looming June 1 deadline, which is the registration deadline for candidates to file for election. That will stretch to June 10 if a map is not finalized by May 10.
On Friday, the court announced it scheduled the case to be heard on May 16. Here’s what could happen next:
Kansas Supreme Court hears appeal
The court will first hear oral arguments from attorneys in the case. The defendants in the case, who are representing the state and appealing the ruling, will need to argue Klapper misapplied state law.
Meanwhile, attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the case will argue that Klapper’s ruling is correct.
Unlike the trial in Wyandotte County, the court will not hear any new testimony or evidence. The justices will simply decide whether Klapper’s properly followed the Kansas Constitution.
Justices look at two separate issues in ruling
The court will face two specific issues: whether the state law protects Kansans from both political and racial gerrymandering.
