Another Historic Bipartisan Agreement on Redistricting

For immediate release: June 30, 2011

For questions contact: Janice Thompson at 503-283-1922

Another Historic Bipartisan Agreement on Redistricting

Common Cause Oregon commends the hard work that resulted in a bipartisan compromise proposal on congressional redistricting. “This is a significant achievement not seen since 1981,” said Janice Thompson, Executive Director of Common Cause Oregon.

“Opportunities for public involvement were stellar in the overall redistricting process, especially public hearings on draft maps,” continued Thompson. More time to review the consensus congressional district map would have been best but didn’t occur since the negotiations carried on so close to the end of the legislative session.

If the legislature had not reached an agreement on congressional maps, that responsibility would have gone to the courts with legal costs estimated to be $1,000,000.

“Legal costs and the close margin in the legislature were contributing factors to this historic agreement,” said Thompson, “Just as important to this consensus agreement was the cooperative spirit seen throughout the legislative redistricting process.”

Legal challenges are still possible on the legislatively adopted district maps, but typically the courts give deference to the result of the redistricting process laid out in Oregon law.