In Colorado, the Colorado Democratic Party has been in power for a long time. In 2010, Colorado Republicans gained control of the Colorado House and Senate after taking back the governorship from Bill Ritter. In 2011, Colorado democratic redistricting plan that tilted districts statewide to favor their party’s candidates.
The new law was so skewed towards one party that it violated two state constitutional provisions: one prohibits legislators from drawing district lines for partisan advantage; another requires districts to be contiguous and compact.
In response to the Colorado Democratic Party’s blatant partisan gerrymandering, Republicans in Colorado filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the new plan. The case made its way all the way to the United States Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of Colorado Republicans and struck down the Colorado Democratic Party’s plan as unconstitutional.
Now that the US Supreme Court has ruled on Colorado’s redistricting law, what is next for Colorado? Here are three steps you need to know:
Step One: The State Legislature will convene in a special session to pass a new redistricting plan.
The state legislature must pass a new plan before January 11, — the day that current district lines expire. The Colorado General Assembly is controlled by Republicans, so it is likely that they will pass a plan that benefits their party.
Step Two: Governor Hickenlooper has the power to veto the state legislature’s plan.
Governor John Hickenlooper (D) could veto the state legislature’s plan if he does not agree with it. However, Governor Hickenlooper has said that he will not veto any Republican-controlled redistricting.
Step Three: If the state legislature and Governor do not agree on a redistricting, then the Colorado Supreme Court will draw up its own redistricting.
If the state legislature and Governor cannot come to an agreement on a new redistricting, the Colorado Supreme Court will step in and draw up its own redistricting. This plan will likely benefit the Democrats, as the Colorado Supreme Court is made up of mostly Democratic judges.
Democrats in Colorado are hopeful that they can win a majority in the state legislature after the 2020 census thanks to the new redistricting policy.
Under this new policy, if the state legislature and Governor cannot agree on a redistricting, then the Colorado Supreme Court will step in and draw up its own plan. This plan will likely benefit the Democrats, as the Colorado Supreme Court is made up of mostly Democratic judges.
The Colorado democratic party hopes that it can take advantage of this new policy and win a majority in the state legislature.
For more information on Colorado democratic redistricting, check online.
