Alaska Redistricting Board 2010-2013

This page contains links to my posts (about 260) on the Redistricting Board from March 15, 2011 through December 20, 2013.  Most recent posts (unfortunately) are at the bottom of this page.  There may be more posts that reflect on the process and ways to improve it.  

[UPDATE March 22, 2021 - NOTE: You can find the tab for the 2020 Redistricting Board coverage above or click the link.]

Most Recent Post At The Bottom:  Last posts were Nov 18 and Dec. 20, 2013 -


[UPDATE June 27, 2017:  BAD LINKS.  A couple of months ago I noticed that the links on the official Alaska Redistricting Board website no longer work.  So that would mean that many of my links to those documents won't work any more either.  The blog had further been corrupted with advertisements (whose links did work) to various businesses.  I notified a state senator who was a close observer of the process.  I saw today that the ads seem be gone and most of the bad links now seem to simply get you back to the main Redistricting Board Page. That means links on my pages that were no longer working right, will get you to the main Redistricting Board page, but not to the document they originally linked to.]

Overview

The 2010 Census data arrived at the Alaska Redistricting Board on Tuesday, March 15.  They met to set their redistricting agenda on March 16.  Four were appointed by Republicans (the Governor has two picks, and one each from the Senate President and the House Leader) and the Supreme Court Justice chose the fifth.

Their job is to adjust Alaska's election districts so they have approximately equal populations.  The ideal size, based on the census is 17,755 per district.  How the district lines are drawn could have a huge impact on what political parties have power and whether minority populations are fairly represented.  Alaska is one of 16 states being watched in this process by the Department of Justice as a result of earlier US Voting Rights Act violations against Alaska Natives.

The Board had 30 days (from March 15) to create a draft plan (Pre-plan period) and then 60 days to clean it up and present the final plan (Post-plan period.)   They have planned an ambitious schedule of public hearings around the state.  Democrats are concerned that the heavily Republican Board will draw lines that make it harder to elect Democrats.




The plan was pre-cleared for compliance with the Voting Rights Act, but the Alaska trial court found some of the districts unconstitutional and the Supreme Court sent the plan back to the board for revisions.

An Amended Proclamation plan was approved and as of today (April 7, 2012) the Board is getting ready to send it and a backup interim plan to the Department of Justice and back to the Alaska court. 

Chronology of Past Posts

Tuesday, March 15, 2011:

The Iditarod Winner is in, Next Event Redistricting
Lists the Board members with pictures and gives background to what they need to do.

Wednesday March 16, 2011:

Alaska Redistricing:  House Winners and Losers
This one takes the Census data with the numbers for all the districts for 2010 and adds in the names of the representatives, party affiliation, and location.  There's also a state district map, and lists of the districts with the highest and lowest deviation from the ideal size of 17,755.

Redistricting Board Meets, Sets Travel Agenda and Ground Rules      
My running notes of the Wednesday meeting.  For those who need to know all the details.  A long post.


Thursday, March 17, 2011

Redistricting Board Won't Use "Protecting Incumbents" as Principle
This posts reviews the federally and state mandated  criteria the board must use to make their decisions and their discussion and rejection of two others:  "protecting incumbents" and "community of interest."


Friday,  March 18, 2011

Anchorage, Wasilla, Juneau, Ketchikan, Fairbanks, Kotzebue, and Bethel: Redistricting Board Comes to You Next Week
Maps out the schedule of Pre-Plan public hearings the Board is going to hold and lists the locations of the Post-Plan hearings.  (Dates of Post-Plan hearings weren't known at the time of the post.)

Redistricting Board Finally Gets Some Information Out - But Not Easy to Use
Looks at the Board's website and email notification of public hearings and realizes that this blog has more information out on this than the board does.  That's not good.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

"Republicans must exploit this advantage without mercy." Can Redistricting Board Be Fair?
Reviews what happened at the board meeting for clues to whether this board can be fair.  Includes some video of the board meeting so readers can get a feel for how they work together.

Monday, March 21, 2011


I Finally Figure it Out:  Senate Redistricting Data Hidden, Not Missing
The House data was published, but what about the Senate?  A little slow here, but finally figured that since each Senate district comprises of two House districts, the House numbers ARE the Senate numbers.   Post has two charts: 
Chart 1. shows Senate data with their related House district data.
Chart 2:  Shows Senate data beginning with district most above the ideal size down to district most below the ideal size.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011
I live blogged the public hearings from noon to five (I had to leave before it ended at 7pm) so there are ten posts from the hearing room.


Anchorage Public Hearing Today - Harrison Suggests it C
Times of the Anchorage and Wasilla public hearings Wed and Thurs, plus Conclusion of Alaska Law Review article by Gordon Harrison, Executive Director of the last Alaska Redistricting Board.



Wednesday, March 23, 2011 

Redistricting Board Member Marie Greene of Kotzebue Video of Board Member Greene from Tuesday public hearing.

PeggyAnn McConnochie, Redistricting Board Member, Video
McConnochie video and map of SC Alaska districts announcement of Wasilla public hearing.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Redistricting Board Chair John Torgerson - Video
Catching up with this video from the Tuesday meeting.  I ask Torgerson about the lack of turnout and what they are doing to make sure more people show up for the next meetings.  He says it's on the state public notice website, he hadn't considered newspaper ads but agrees that the turnout is low.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Redistricting Board Online Now in Juneau
Short post with pictures from the online video reminding people of Juneau to go to the hearings.

Ketchikan's Turn,  And Then  Fairbanks Monday
Reminder to Ketchikan residents the Board is coming Saturday.  Numbers for the district and nearby districts and guide to what happens at the meeting and questions they might want to ask.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Joelle Hall Responds to Earlier Randy Ruedrich Comments Video
Brief video with AFL-CIO Political Director

Monday, March 28, 2011


Fairbanks, Your Turn - Redistricting Board Noon to 7pm Today
Reminder to Fairbanks residents with table of Fairbanks area districts and how close each is to the ideal number of 17,755 and suggestions for what to do and ask at the meeting.  Picture of Jim Holm and 3 other board members looking at map during break in Anchorage.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

I'm behind updating this index page.  There are about ten posts from the Thursday public hearing which you can find at the top of the March 2011 archives until I get this caught up.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Julie Kitka: "In democracies, respecting rights isn't a choice leaders make day by day, it's the reason why they govern." (Video)
Video of most of Kitka's testimony including questions.


Monday, April 4, 2011
Is the Alaska Redistricting Board Hiding?
Post documents (using screenshots) that board website and Facebook page suggest nothing is happening this week.

Alaska Redistricting Board April 4 - Morning Session 
Running notes of the meeting that included Lisa Handley offered pre-clearance contract, Deadlines for public testimony and plans set for post-plan period,
computer software can't do all they thought, won't do anything on military or prison populations, though attorney White still has a couple of questions to answer, and added Barrow to post-plan stops.


Carving Up Eagle River - This is the Post Everyone Should Read
Because I think you can understand what they are doing and why people need to go and watch.  They badly need your feedback.  Video of them using the computer to redraw the district lines.  Waiting for the video to load before posting.  Coming soon. [Here]


Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Minority-Majority; Minority-Influence; Native Gerrymandering - Redistricting Board Eyes Voting Rights Act
Discussion of native districts meanings of some terms, video of the end of the meeting.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011
What Constitutes a Native for Determining Native Percentage of a District?
Video of staff attorney Michael White explaining that Native can be "Native" or "Native and White" but not other multiracial combinations and the need to be sure other submitted plans define and count Native the same way.


Friday, April 8, 2011
Can the Board Keep to Nine Native Districts?  What Constitutes Contiguous?
Board agrees - on video - they can do this, but it's not pretty.  In one plan, they make a Senate district by connecting Kodiak and Ketchikan.

Redistricting Nationwide - New York Times Overview
Relates national trends to what's happening in Alaska redistricting.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Draft Plan - Rural Areas, Fairbanks, and Valdez Approved 
Summary of Saturday meeting - includes Approved Fairbanks map, Board Map Option 1v.2 (the rural areas and Valdez approved, not Southeast, Kenai, Matsu, or Anchorage.)


Monday, April 11, 2011
Redistricting Board Update
Notes on the Sunday meeting when they went over Matsu, Southeast, and took a first look at the Anchorage districts.  Maps.

Board Talks to Voting Rights Consultant Lisa Handley Calling from Afghanistan
One hour meeting talking about
  • What data she'll need to do her analysis
  • Clarifying how to determine "Native"
  • Other issues like whether 35% will be the number still for Native influence districts (not necessarily)
  • How does voting age fit in?
  • Schedule - her return time (April 24), how long until product (three weeks later)

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Which Shell is the Pea Under?  Watching the Redistricting Board Create Districts
Where the blogger expresses some frustration as the board moves blocks from district to district trying to come up with 17,755 in each district, but making it very difficult to actually see what has happened to existing incumbents - particularly so in Anchorage where the maps they distributed were much to vague to figure out the district boundaries.  Also a problem in SE, but next day blogger got clarification from Board Member McConnochie.


Redistricting Board Adjourned Early to Tweak
The board reviewed and adopted an alternate plan for Matsu.  Maps for Anchorage were not yet ready.  They did come up on line later in the afternoon, but they (particularly Anchorage) are not detailed enough to figure out where the district lines are.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011 - Taking a Break for Other Obligations

The board is scheduled to meet at 11 am briefly and then again at 3pm when Member Greene gets back.  Member Holm will be on the phone from Fairbanks.
Your blogger has another afternoon activity and catches a plane out of town later in the evening.  The final "draft plan" is scheduled to be adopted by Thursday, April 14.  I'll be watching the AFFR website where Kay Brown has been blogging too.  She catches stuff I miss, like I didn't hear Brodie asking about incumbent pairings or Torgerson's answer. And the Board's website to see what they post.

Board Approves Plan While I'm Away  - I learn via email that Board approved two draft plans.  There are links to the Board site where people can link to pdf regional maps.  I also posted Chair Torgerson's statement.

Thursday, April 14, 2011  

What the Constitution Says the Redistricting Board is Supposed To Do - Post of sections 10 and 11 of Article 6 of the Alaska Constitution which describes the requirements of the Board to create a draft plan in 30 days and a final plan 60 days later.

Friday, April 15, 2011
Detailed Redistricting Maps and Post Plan Public Hearings Schedule - as it says - now the Board's website has individual maps of each district.  I have a link to the site.  I've also posted the schedule.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

I'm back, but no new posts yet on redistricting.  In the meantime, you can see what others have written:

Thursday, April 21, 2011
Cordova: Your Turn at 1:30pm.  Here are the Redistricting Maps
Maps relevant to the Cordova area. 

Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Delta Junction and Tok, Nome and Kotzebue, Unalaska and Cold Bay:  Your Turn with the Redistricting Board, Today, Tuesday
Maps for all the areas mentioned above - Districts 6, 2 (12), 39, 40, and 37.


Matsu Residents Sound Unhappy with Redistricting Plans - Excerpt from and link to Frontiersman article on public hearing in Palmer.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Bethel and Glennallen:  Your Turn with the Redistricting Board Today - Maps for these two districts - 38 and 6.

Thursday, May 5, 2011
How Is the Redistricting Board Like the Pakistani Government?  Either They Are Incompetent Or They Are Intentionally Concealing
Finding the May 6 final public hearing on the Board's website is very difficult.  There is a link to a five page pdf file and the calendar mentions it, but the map says it's in Juneau.  And their Facebook events page says nothing is upcoming.  I document this all with screenshots taken May 5. 


Friday, May 6, 2011 Morning Hearing - Presentation of Plans
Friday, May 6, 2011 Afternoon Hearing - Public Testimony

Saturday, May 7, 2011 
Writing for the ADN, Trolls and All
When I complained to the editor of the ADN about their lack of coverage of the Redistricting Board, he invited me to write a piece. This post discusses the conditions when you write a piece like this and my assessment of it. It also mentions trolls and I promise to write another piece on that. Things got hairy after that - the executive director of the board died Sunday and one of the trolls proclaimed my article and blog contributed to his death, not just at the ADN comments, but here, and on talk radio Monday. I will do that post.

Sunday, May 8, 2011 
Time to Stop and Reflect on What's Important
This post reflects on Ron Miller, the Board executive director, who died unexpectedly on Sunday and the need to remember what is important in life. While I have been critical of the board's performance on occasion, I have been treated well by the staff and board.

Saturday, May 14, 2011
Alaska Redistricting Board:  Live Streaming Of Meetings and Updated Website
Following their busy schedule traveling the state and prior to their meetings to consider what they've heard, the board has taken a step to better access by arranging to have audio streaming of their upcoming meetings.  They've also improved their website, including a window on their home page with future meetings posted for all to see easily.  Good job.


Monday, May 16, 2011
Board Remembers Ron Miller Then Goes Into Executive Session
The board shared the feelings about Ron Miller who died a week ago before going into Executive Session.
Executive Session Results - New Executive Director, Voting Rights Act Consultant Tomorrow
Taylor Bickford and Jim Ellis were made Executive Director and Assistant Director respectively and the board discussed preliminary comments from Voting Rights Act consultant Lisa Handley before tomorrow's phone conversation with her.


Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Voting Rights Act and Planning the End Game
Long discussion with Lisa Handley by phone over her analysis and the implication for the districts.  Then they discussed strategy for completing the plan.  There was a difference between member Brody and the others.

Sorry, I got a bit behind here.

Friday, May 20, 2011
Brainstorming Day at the Board - Brody's Proposal Shot Down
Overview of the May 19 meeting.  Two main items:
1.  Trying to keep nine Native Majority districts - look at the factors they have to balance in reaching this goal.
2.  Strategy for Finishing - board member Brody proposed getting the urban areas set, while others wanted to do the rural areas first.  Some discussion on the possible political consequences of holding off the urban areas until the end.


Running notes on May 20 meeting
Staff (Eric mainly) and Board Member PeggyAnn McConnochie work through their maps for SE and Native districts.


Monday, May 23, 2011
Overview of problems redistricting board is facing before Voting Rights Act consultant arrives tomorrow 
Overview of Retrogression and the need to maintain nine Native districts and other factors involved in doing this.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Packed Room for Dr. Lisa Handley at Redistricting Board
Overview of Handley's presentation with links to her powerpoint.

Lisa Handley at Redistricting Board - Short Video
Brief video of Handley presenting to the board.  Links to her powerpoint.

Thursday, May 26, 2011
Computer Crash, Board Recesses Quickly Until 2pm - Thoughts on Open Meetings
My thoughts on Public Process of the Board so far.

Sunday, May 29, 2011
Boundary Setting and Terminology Around Native Districts
Another attempt to articulate what seem to be factors the board needs to balance to prevent retrogression and why.  Tried to go through the changing terminology and guidelines the board and private plan developers have had to meet.


Two People Chatting Doesn't a Conspiracy Make
Picture of Tom Begich and Randy Ruedrich in discussion at break.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Redistricting Board Getting Modern
The board adds webinar access for first 100 people for next round of meetings.  Links to online access and webinar access. 

Board Meeting Tuesday; Possible Retrogression;  Seldovia in House District with Bethel, Seward in Senate District with Anchorage
Overview, then rough notes of the meeting Tuesday, May 31, 2011.


Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Listening In On Redistricting Board from Home or Office or . . .

Excess Population, Palmer and Wasilla = 2 Senate Seats? Price of a Pint in Cold Bay



Thursday, June 2, 2011
Senators Coghill and Thomas Paired as Anchorage and Fairbanks Worked On

Taylor Bickford Explains his Eagle River Options (Video)

Friday, June 3, 2011

Board Gets Testy Thursday Afternoon Trying to Set Border Between Matsu and Anchorage
I try to outline the issues they're dealing with and then have my rough notes.  Map photos.

10am Today Carving Up Anchorage (And Probably Tomorrow)
Links to Friday's online and GoToMeeting access points.  And maps from the groups that offered ways to do Anchorage.

Brody Gets Eagle River into Two Districts, Mostly
In the afternoon, board member Brody presented a plan which put all of Eagle River into two districts without touching Muldoon.


Saturday, June 4, 2011
Listening and Watching the Board From Home Now
This was a short meeting.  McConnochie and Greene talked briefly about their attempts to get better numbers in SW Alaska.  By 10:25 the board went into executive session.  It seems I had another post of notes that never got posted.  Nothing earthshaking.


Sunday, June 5, 2011
Are Anchorage Pairings Unavoidable or Gerrymandering?
This post looks at the concept of gerrymandering - including a video from a USC website which has a gerrymandering game.  Then it looks at ways to gerrymander and evaluates  what happened in Anchorage to the ways people can gerrymander.

Monday, June 6, 2011
Removing Warts:  Board Conceptually Approves Anchorage, Matsu, Valdez, Fairbanks, and Southeast   Board goes through each of these areas and then approves them all.


Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Board Approves New Dillingham Kodiak Districts - My notes as the board went back to Dillingham and Kodiak where changes were made to raise the numbers of Alaska Natives to get the Senate seat to qualify as a Native district.

Board Approves Senate Pairings - My notes as the board went through the pairing of House districts to form Senate districts.

10=1  Board Gives New Numbers to the New Districts
They renumbered all the districts so that would be roughly ordered.  My notes of the meeting as they did this.  They postponed truncation until they had data on the population changes for the Senate seats.

Sunday, June 12, 2011
Truncation and Which Senators Get 2 and 4 Year Terms
I try to understand the process of truncation and how they determine the 2 and 4 year terms.


Monday, June 12, 2011
Metes and Bounds - I try to explain the term 'metes and bounds' and offer an example with the description of the old District 6.

Board's Attorney Suggests 2 Year and 4 Year Pairings; All But One Truncation - I listened from home, but couldn't get any audio.  They did have the attorney's recommendations for the 2 and 4 year pairings, and I posted those.

Tuesday, June 13, 2011
Board Approves Proclamation and Other Documents, Then Goes Into Executive Session
The board members congratulate themselves on doing a great job and approve their work. 


Sunday, June 26, 2011
Fairbanks to Sue Over Redistricting  - I comment on a Fairbanks News Miner article.

July 14, 2011

Three Challenges To Redistricting Plan Arrived By Deadline - Cases Attached-Brief overview of the three challenges, one from the Fairbanks North Star Borough, one from a resident of Goldstream and a resident of Ester, and one from the City of Petersburg.  Copies of the cases are embedded in the post.  


Monday, July 18, 2011

Redistricting Board Meets (Mostly in Executive Session)
Updates on court challenges, finishing the report, the VRA consultant's report, new staff. 
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Judge  rules Against Redistricting Board
Fairbanks judge rules against the Redistricting Board's move to hear the court challenge in Anchorage instead of Fairbanks. 

Thursday, August 11, 2011 
Voting Rights Act Consultant's Report Says Redistricting Board's Plan OK
Includes link to the report.

Monday, January 9, 2012
Four Districts Found Unconstititional  - quick look at court documents

Sounds of Silence - The court proceedings are on audio teleconference, but can't hear anything.

Paskvan Testifies - Sen Paskvan, one of two Democratic Fairbanks Senators put in the same district testifies.

Plaintiffs Trying to Show Gerrymandering - Sen. Thomas (who is paired with Paskvan) is describing strange loops moving legislators in or out of a district.

Senator Thomas Continues - More of the same.

[Not caught up yet with the new posts.  Find the rest under Jan 2012 in the blog archive.]



Friday, October 7, 2011

Comments on Alaska Redistricting Board's Submission to DOJ Voting Section
Contains an overview of my thoughts on the submission with particular focus on the Publicity and Participation section.  The whole letter in a Scribd embed is also there.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Redistricting Board Submission Gets Pre-Clearance from DOJ
Includes Board's website post and copy of the letter from Assistant US Attorney General Thomas E. Perez to Board Attorney Michael White.

Monday, January 9, 2012  - I was able to follow most of the trial via telephone connection provided by the Board and the Court.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012


Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Thursday, January 12, 2012
Monday, January 16, 2012
Redistricting Court Challenge:  Voting Rights Act Expert Handley- Begins with reflections on Board Executive Director Taylor Bickford's testimony, brief mention of board's GIS expert's testimony, and the covers Voting Rights Act consultant, Dr. Lisa Handley's, testimony.

 Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Thursday, March 15, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
  • Alaska Redistricting Process - What Happens Next? - Looks at the questions:
    • The Board will have to make a new plan and that has lots of possibilities.
      • What are the parts they have to change?
      • Can they be fixed without messing with the rest of the districts?
      • Do they start completely fresh or leave most of the existing plan intact?
      • Are there any candidates obviously affected?
Monday, March 26, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012 
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012

Friday, April 6, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
  • Redistricting Board Posts District Maps - links to all the maps for the Amended Proclamation Plan, statewide, regional, and individual districts.  Also other relevant reports and descriptions are linked.
Friday, April 13, 2012
 Friday, April 20, 2012  
 Tuesday, April 24, 2012
May 1, 2012

  • Redistricting Board's Supreme Court Appeal - First I wonder out loud why the board didn't tell us how they were able to come to agreement so easily without discussing many details at the public meeting.  Second, I try to explain what I think the court had asked for and what the board needed to do.  
May 7, 2012
May 11, 2012 
May 14, 2012

May 15, 2012
May 16, 2012 
May 22, 2012
 May 27, 2012
Some posts on the November elections that discuss impacts of redistricting:

September 25, 2012
  • The Alaska Senator the Oil Companies Hate Most - Has a video tape of Sen. Bill Weilochoski at a campaign rally.  Toward the end there's a discussion of how the redistricting has impacted the bi-partisan coalition in the state Senate with lists of candidates and the impacts of redistricting. 
November 20, 2012 
 December 3, 2012
Dec. 29, 2012  

Jan. 11, 2013
Jan. 13, 2013
 Jan 14, 2013
  • Redistricting Board Petition to SC Part II - looks at the rest of Part A - about the ability to set up constitutional districts AFTER you do the Native districts.  Also, if all the districts are constitutional, why do you need Hickel process?

Jan 16, 2013

Feb 1, 2013
What's At Stake If Redistrict Board Has To Start Over? - Looks at:
  • Form over Substance
    • The Board's Task
    • The Court's Task
    • What Happened?
    • Form Over Substance?
    • My Conclusion
  • Impact Of Redoing The Plan From Scratch
    • A Lot of Work
    • Should the job be given back to the Board?
    • Impact on the balance of Democrats and Republicans in the legislature
    • Impact on voters' connection to their legislators 

Feb 6, 2013
Feb 12, 2013
Feb 24, 2013
  • Alaska Supreme Court Says No To Redistricting Board - But Changes 36 to 22 - Looks at the Supreme Court decision turning down the Board's petition for a rehearing on the Court's Dec.29, 2012 decision that the Board must redraw the maps following the Hickel Process.
Feb 26, 2013
March 12, 2013

March 13, 2013   
March 14, 2013

  • Why Open Meetings Act Matters  - Looks at how the Open Meeting act showed the public the huge difference in qualifications between the candidates.
March 15, 2013
March 17, 2013
March 18, 2013
March 19, 2013
April 29, 2013
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Friday, June 7, 2013
Monday June 10, 2013
Thursday June 13, 2013
Monday, June 17, 2013

Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Thursday, June 20, 2013

Friday, June 21, 2013
Saturday, June 22, 2013

Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Friday, June 28, 2013

There's a flurry of posts that came live from the public hearing Friday.


Saturday, June 29, 2013
  • Alaska Redistricting Board - What Happened Friday at Anchorage Public Hearing?    -  A list of the plans, the third-party presenters, and the individuals who testified.  Try to give the briefest possible synopsis of their position.  Also each is linked to the post that covered their testimony Friday.  Finally I look at to issues - the focus on extremely tight deviation percentages (at the expense of something else?) and Ruedrich's claim that the Anchorage plan was simply the plan Anchorage came up with, so they didn't change anything.   

Monday July 1, 2013

Friday, July 5, 2013

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Sunday, July 7, 2013


Monday July 8, 2013

Sunday, July 14 , 2013

Notes from the Last Alaska Redistricting Meeting.  Everyone Hopes So
- My very rough notes of, what many hope, was the last Alaska Redistricting Board (unless there are legal challenges)  meeting, where they approve the Proclamation and the findings and the metes and bounds.  

Photos of the Last Redistricting Board Meeting - The Board, some of the audience, AFFER and CALISTA folks, Board's signatures.  

Monday, July 15, 2013
  • Begich and Ruedrich Talk About Redistricting - Democrat Tom Begich, who worked with the Calista group's plan and Randy Ruedrich who worked with the Republican plan each talk a bit on video about whether this is the end.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Thursday, July 18, 2013 
  • Did Redistricting Board Intentionally Target Tea Party Members? - A woman at the Board complained to me about the political bias against Republicans by the Board and showed me an email with a list of Senators and how their seats were affected by redistricting.  I discuss this along with an amended version of her list.


Friday, July 19, 2013
Thursday Meeting, ADN Article on Fairbanks Plaintiffs' Coming Legal Challenge, Where to Find Documents  - The title says it all.


Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Thursday, August 29, 2013
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Monday, September 23, 2013
Tuesday, September 24, 2013


Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Friday, October 23, 2013
  • Alaska Redistricting - Compactness and Fairbanks Districts 3 and 5 Part 1 - This post looks at the concept of compactness because the court challenge to the Board's Plan, in part, focuses on the alleged lack of compactness in Fairbanks districts 3 and 5.  This post looks at what compactness means and ways it is tested and the idea that it is a way to test for gerrymandering. 
  • Alaska Redistricting Board Back - To Close Meeting - they reconvene publicly long enough to adjourn and wish people Happy Halloween.  Executive session was under 30 minutes.  Michael White, their attorney who has recently had mouth surgery to remove a cancer, was there via phone too. 
Saturday, October 25

Friday, November 1, 2013


Monday, November 4, 2013

Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Wednesday, November 13, 2013 
  • The Case That HD 5 Was Gerrymandered - Part 1 -  These two posts look  Part 1 looks at HD 5 in the context of the current court case, particularly at the concepts of gerrymandering and what I think are the relevant partisan facts about the current redistricting process. 
Friday, November 15, 2013 
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Monday, Nov 18, 2013
Dec 20, 2013



 Read More: 


Related Older Posts on Constitutional Amendment to Enlarge the Legislature (it was voted down):

Expanding the Legislature Constitutional Amendment Committee Hearing Feb. 2, 2010:  Notes from the State Affairs Committee hearing  Feb. 2, 2010.  The Amendment sponsors had redistricting in mind and were trying to help large, sparsely populated districts from becoming harder to represent by making them even larger.  And some may have been thinking of preserving their own seats.  This post outlines the issues presented.  

Constitutional Amendment to Enlarge Legislature Passes State Affairs With Changes Feb. 19, 2010:  More on the legislature and the Amendment.

Constitutional Amendment to Enlarge Alaska Legislature - Ballot Measure #1  October 23, 2010: Reviews the Constitutional Amendment on the ballot and goes over some of the related redistricting issues.