Politics, not people, should determine how Kansas’ state and Congressional district maps should be drawn, the plaintiffs argued Monday.
And the fact that Republican lawmakers hold a supermajority in both the Senate and the House gives them the right to draw a map that benefits them most, Kansas Solicitor General Brant Laue argued.
“It’s politics. There are winners and losers in politics,” Laue said.
Laue is representing Attorney General Derek Schmidt in the lawsuit. Schmidt is protesting a Wyandotte County District Court’s ruling that said the Legislature’s redrawing of the voting maps overwhelmingly favors Republicans and as such violates the state constitution which guarantees voters equal representation.
The architects, maintain the defense, manipulated the map to the advantage of those in power.
The new Congressional map divides Wyandotte County between the 2nd and 3rd Districts, cleaving apart the most racially and ethnically diverse county in the state. It also puts liberal-leaning Lawrence in with the heavily Republican 1st District along with all of western Kansas.
Even if the newly drawn map does disproportionately favor Republicans, the high court has no business hearing the case, Schmidt maintained, saying it was the responsibility of federal courts.
Rubbish.
The map violates the rights of Kansas voters, the very arena of the justices.
That’s why they ruled on public education, seeing that our children receive an adequate and equitable education. It’s also why they’ve ruled that women’s reproductive rights should be protected.
As an equal branch of government, it’s the justices’ job to see that legislators keep true to the constitution.
THE PURPOSE of voting maps is to represent the demographics of certain regions. Not to divide and conquer.
That’s why a democracy is called a representative government, the naïve say. Republicans indulge us with a smile.
Or worse.
“What … the other side argued was essentially that there ought to be no political considerations or partisan considerations in redistricting … and that’s just a laughable position,” Schmidt said after Monday’s hearing.
So, democracy is the butt of the joke. Such mockery is chilling.
— Susan Lynn
