ICYMI: DTL in the news and the 'empire' strikes back

Chris Satullo| January 2nd, 2019

The Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City | Image Credit: Associated Press

In several state capitols, elected officials continue to try to thwart or undo redistricting reforms that voters just approved.

 This has been part of a larger, end-of-2018 trend in statehouses of lame-duck legislatures trying to pass measures that would limit the impact of the choices voters made in November elections and referenda.

Here's a new New York Times overview of the situation. (Digital subscription may be required.)

Here's a good, in-depth NPR.org look specifically at how the trend affected redistricting reforms.

Here's a deeper look at the situation in Missouri, where a new governor wants to undo the election and ethics reforms in the Clean Missouri package that 62 percent of the state's voters chose to approve.

In Michigan, an attempt to undo the redistricting reforms that voters approved last year failed, but the legislature and governor did approve a measure that would make it harder to place on the ballot referendum questions like the one successfully pushed by a group called Voters Not Politicians.   This piece from the Detroit News lays out the background and nuances.

In North Carolina, the latest twist in a long-running fight involves court-shopping, not ballot questions. Both political parties are maneuvering to get lawsuits filed against the state's legislative and congressional maps heard by a court more likely to be friendly to their side.  The Raleigh News & Observer has the details.

Meanwhile, the successful conclusion of Draw the Lines' first mapping competition triggered a well-done article in the Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice by Bill Wellock.  Thanks to him.