The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday unanimously approved a new map of the state’s eight U.S. House districts drawn by the Colorado Independent Congressional Redistricting Commission, despite arguments from Democratic and Latino advocacy groups that it dilutes the power of Latino voters.
“The plan surely will not please everyone,” Justice Monica Marquez wrote in the court’s decision, “but again, the question before us is not whether the commission adopted a perfect redistricting plan or even the ‘best’ of the proposed alternatives.”
Instead, the court found that the commission acted within its authority to balance state constitutional requirements and did not abuse its discretion.
The map, which will be used in the 2022 election, creates three safe seats for Democrats, three safe seats for Republicans and two seats, including one that’s home to Democratic U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter of Arvada that could go either way. That’s based on an analysis of the results of eight statewide races between 2016 and 2020.
The most competitive district under the new map will be the new 8th District based in the north Denver metro area and stretching into Greeley. The district will be 38.5% Hispanic, and Democrats will have a 1.3 percentage point advantage, based on the results of previous elections.
The map, which was approved 11-1 by the redistricting commission on Sept. 28, received a number of challenges from groups arguing it would dilute the power of Latino voters by grouping Latinos with white voters who vote in a bloc against Latino-preferred candidates. Specifically, opponents claimed the commission didn’t apply language in the state constitution prohibiting maps that dilute a minority group’s “electoral influence,” which they argue imposes further requirements than the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 to protect the voting rights of minority groups.
The court, however, agreed with the commission that the state constitution simply restates requirements under existing federal law, and that the commission met those requirements.
The court also rejected claims that the commission should have created more competitive districts. Justices said that even if other maps considered by the commission had more competitive districts, the panel “was required to prioritize other criteria, including the preservation of communities of interest and political subdivisions, over competitiveness.”
With the court’s approval Monday, the congressional commission will now file the map with the secretary of state, which has the task of reconfiguring precinct lines ahead of the 2022 election.
The map will be in place for the next decade.
The court’s approval also caps a congressional redistricting process overseen for the first time by the independent commission, created when Colorado voters passed Amendment Y in 2018. The panel contended with a more than four-month delay in receiving the 2020 census data required to draw the map.
“This year has marked a watershed for congressional redistricting in Colorado,” Marquez wrote in the court’s ruling. “For the first time, the state’s congressional district map is not the product of politics or litigation; it is instead the product of public input, transparent deliberation and compromise among 12 ordinary voters representing the diversity of our state.”
This is a developing story that will be updated.
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