Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Committee debate centers on defining 'partisan symmetry' test as sponsor seeks statutory standard
Summary
Senator Brammer presented a bill file to define how Proposition 4's partisan-prohibition should be measured. Committee members, legal staff and counsel debated partisan-bias versus other statistical tests and whether the Legislature should codify a single method now.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Legislative Redistricting Committee devoted significant discussion on Sept. 22 to how the Legislature should satisfy Proposition 4's prohibition on maps that "purposefully or unduly" favor a political party or incumbent. Senator Brammer introduced a bill file intended to define which statistical and judicial standards the Legislature will use to assess partisan symmetry; the committee did not take action on the file.
"We're trying to provide some clarity for the courts," Senator Brammer said as he described the statutory language he is proposing to guide the partisan-symmetry analysis. Michael Curtis, one of the committee attorneys, summarized the statutory requirement: partisan political data may not be considered in map creation except to run a post hoc analysis using "measures of partisan symmetry" and other scientific methods. "Partisan…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
