As a new decade approaches, Kansas lawmakers should consider legislation that would take the politics out of redistricting.
The state of Iowa, which has had a nonpartisan redistricting committee in place since 1980, could serve as a model.
Under current rules, Kansas governor and Legislature will redraw congressional and legislative district lines in 2022 to balance out district populations based on the 2020 census. It is perhaps the most political endeavor legislators face as legislators push to weight districts heavily in the favor of their parties and incumbents. The redistricting process is so political in Kansas that the last time it was done, in 2012, the Kansas Legislature couldnt agree on a plan, and the maps ended up being drawn by a panel of three federal district court judges.
