It appears increasingly likely that Indiana Republican lawmakers will redraw the state’s congressional districts to help Republicans pick up more seats.
Voter advocacy groups delivered petitions from about 9,000 Hoosiers to the Statehouse Tuesday, opposing that effort.
The petitions were gathered by groups that include the League of Women Voters of Indiana, Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis, Women4Change Indiana and the Indiana Alliance for Retired Americans.
Megan Robertson from Indiana Conservation Voters said the congressional map lawmakers drew just four years ago kept communities together. She said a new map would split them apart.
“We know that most of the legislators in this building know that this isn’t what they should be doing,” Robertson said. “They know it.”
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Common Cause Indiana’s Julia Vaughn said redrawing the districts now would send a terrible message.
“You are pretty much telling Hoosier voters, ‘We don’t care what you think. Don’t bother to show up; just stay home because we’ve already decided who is going to represent you,’” Vaughn said.
Vaughn said that’s particularly troubling in a state that already has some of the worst voter turnout in the country.
Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.