JEFFERSON CITY, MO – As required by Article III, Section 7 of the Missouri Constitution, the Judicial Redistricting Commission announces the public release of its tentative redistricting plan and map for the Missouri Senate. The tentative plan and map are available on the Redistricting Office website at www.oa.mo.gov/budget-planning/redistricting-office. The Judicial Redistricting Commission plans to file its redistricting plan and map with the Secretary of State on March 15, 2022.
“The Judicial Redistricting Commission deeply appreciates the input provided by citizens during our public hearing and through the website,” Judge Cynthia L. Martin, commission chair, said. “That input was thoughtfully considered, subject to the requirements of the Missouri Constitution that Senate districts be established using methods and criteria in an order of priority.”
Those criteria include:
- Dividing population as equally as practicable;
- Avoiding the denial or abridgment of the right to vote on account of race or color;
- Creating districts that are as contiguous and compact as practicable;
- Respecting political subdivision lines to the extent possible; and
- Achieving calculable standards for partisan fairness and competitiveness.
“The Judicial Redistricting Commission’s work has been thorough and labor intensive, and was purposefully undertaken with the goal to file a constitutionally compliant plan and map well in advance of the commission’s constitutional deadline to avoid disenfranchising voters given the candidate filing deadline and the deadline for preparing ballots,” Martin said.
The members of the Judicial Redistricting Commission are Missouri appellate judges and were appointed by the Supreme Court of Missouri pursuant to the constitution. In addition to Martin, the members are Judge Thomas N. Chapman, Judge Michael E. Gardner, Judge Gary W. Lynch (vice chair), Judge Angela Turner Quigless, and Judge Mary W. Sheffield.