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Saturday, July 08, 2006
Ind. Law - More on: New Albany lawsuit seeks new council districts
Updating this ILB entry from May 18, 2006, Ben Zion Hershberg of the Louisville Courier Journal reports today:
The New Albany City Council has asked U.S. District Court to dismiss a lawsuit seeking the realignment of the six council districts on grounds that the suit is based on incorrect information.Jerry Ulrich, the council's lawyer, said the suit is based on the disparity in the number of registered voters in each district, while state and federal law require districts to be based on population.
Stephen Beardsley, who filed the suit on behalf of 20 city residents, said he doesn't believe it will be dismissed.
"The statute requires more or less equal districts," Beardsley said.
He said the statistics provided in the suit are clear enough. They show 7,481 registered voters in the 2nd District, which is represented by Bill Schmidt, and only 3,993 in the 1st District, which is represented by Dan Coffey.
The number of registered voters in the other districts ranges from 4,230 to 5,030.
Beardsley said the real issue isn't the statistical basis for the suit but "why don't they redistrict?"
With municipal elections next year, he said, the City Council or the court must act quickly to draw new districts in time.
The council discussed redistricting in 2002, as is required after the U.S. Census, which is taken each decade. But the members were unable to agree on a redistricting plan.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on July 8, 2006 09:59 AM
Posted to Indiana Law