Victory on Redistricting! - Let's keep it up.

"Do it right, do it fairly this time"

A couple of weeks ago, Democratic House and Republican Senate leadership passed and Governor Beshear signed legislative re-districting plans that are vindictive against specific lawmakers, leave one incumbent lawmaker without a district to run for re-election, leaves citizens of another district represented by a senator from 200 miles away who they didn't vote for, and creates very oddly shaped districts that unnecessarily divide communities and counties.

Fortunately, the Franklin Circuit Court stepped in yesterday and declared the redistricting plans unconstitutional and restored the district lines to how they were last year, tasking the legislature to come up with new and constitutional plans.

This is a big incremental victory, but we have to keep up the pressure.

It's possible that the ruling will be appealed to a higher court soon, but in any event, we think legislators have an opportunity and an obligation approve new plans that put constituents and democratic principles, not politics, first.

Take Action

Please call the toll-free Legislative Message Line at 1-800-372-7181 and leave a message for your Senator and Representative, plus "House Leadership" and "Senate Leadership."

Leave a message like: "Do the redistricting fairly this time and think of the constituents like me."

And if you have a chance to write a letter to the editor today, please do so to help inform others and put the spotlight on legislators.

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2/9/12 Update - Legislative leaders decide to appeal judge's ruling on state legislative boundaries.  House Democratic Leadership and Senate Republican leadership have let us down again by pushing to appeal the Franklin court's decision.  You should still keep calling in, but it's likely that the Kentucky Supreme Court will get to weigh in on this issue soon.