Gerrymandering/Redistricting

In Colorado and across the country, lawmakers and independent commissions are growing impatient at the delay in 2020 Census data and rushing forward using alternative data sources. Here's why this approach is so problematic.

Whether we're concerned about federal, state, county or municipal districts, it's important that we all show up to represent our respective communities at the public redistricting hearings to be held across the state over the coming months.

Colorado's independent redistricting commission is accepting applications, and there's a lot of ways to get involved!

“Changing the name of a neighborhood or the name of a syrup bottle is all good, but I don’t think it’s the systemic change that people want,” she said. “An independent redistricting commission actually could be that change... I think that is a fundamental shift that could be really radical and really cool.”

“It shouldn’t be the case that if you’re a politician, you get to draw the maps and decide who’s in your district. By having two independent redistricting commissions, we’re ensuring that everyday Coloradans are going to be the folks drawing those maps.”

The Colorado Accurate Residence For Redistricting Act is “a victory for fair maps in Colorado,” Patrick Potyondy, policy manager for Colorado Common Cause, a nonpartisan nonprofit focused on fair and accountable political representation that supported the legislation, wrote in an email. “Under this reform, no legislator or congressional representative of either party would benefit politically any longer because of the state prison in their district that bloats their local population,” he wrote. “The bill removes a perverse incentive for elected officials in the legislature or in Congress to want more people imprisoned in their districts… This will hopefully help reduce our level of mass incarceration.”