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Rep. Collins proposes nine-member citizen commission for redistricting
Summary
Representative Andrew Collins introduced HJR 1001 to place federal and state redistricting with a nine-member citizen commission, setting eligibility, selection procedures and criteria intended to limit partisan gerrymandering; supporters called for transparency and greater citizen participation.
Representative Andrew Collins introduced House Joint Resolution 1001 to create a nine-member citizen redistricting commission responsible for drawing both federal and state legislative maps. Collins said the measure is intended to “take politics as far as possible out of the redistricting process,” and described a selection process meant to exclude public officials, party officials, lobbyists and their relatives.
The resolution would direct the secretary of state to advertise for applicants and have a panel of retired appellate judges reduce the applicant pool to three groups of 30: a majority-party pool, a minority-party pool and a pool of unaffiliated or other applicants. Legislative leaders could then strike up to two applicants from each pool, and the panel would randomly draw three from each pool to form the nine-member commission.
Collins said the commission’s duties would follow constitutional criteria spelled out in the amendment: districts must be contiguous; they must not deny or abridge the right to vote on account of race or language; they should minimize division of cities or counties except where necessary; they should be compact; and if the preceding criteria are satisfied, the maps should promote competition between political parties. Collins framed the proposal as a response to partisan mapmaking that he said produces few competitive seats and contributes to more extreme government.
Kwame Abdul Bey of the Arkansas Public Policy Panel spoke in support, saying the commission’s transparency provisions were an improvement over the current process and urging more citizen involvement when maps are drawn. Representative Hawk asked whether the resolution would conflict with a recently passed law concerning board selection and racial diversity; Collins replied that a constitutional amendment would supersede state law.
No committee vote was recorded during the hearing. The resolution was presented, questioned, and received public testimony; the committee did not take a formal action on the record during the session.
