79 people applied to be redistricting commissioners in time for the October 15th deadline.

Check out the story here.

There are some great names in there. Some I don’t know.

However, as I often say, this is the least noticed, but most important game in town right now. More important that the elections we are about to have.

Despite what some say, we could have more than 10 out of 30 state legislative districts be competitive. We have only 4 right now and our legislature favors extremism as a result. Further, it is simply unfair that over half of all registered voters effectively don’t have a choice in their elections in Arizona because whomever wins in the primary election in most districts will win in the general election.

How do we fix this? First, we get commissioners that agree that we can have more competitive districts. Second, we as citizens have to push back against those in government who will seek to draw districts for their own narrow interests. Redistricting is not rocket science and the ASU Morrison Institute is going to help you learn how to draw district lines using the best known mapping software, called Maptitude.

See here for more information about workshops that they will host in December. Unfortunately, they will cost money. So, it is best for groups or organizations to send somebody to participate.

For the sake of our state, please get involved!

More to come…