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How Colorado’s new redistricting commissions will navigate a political swamp in 2021

Decisions on boundaries will include location of state’s expected new 8th congressional district

From left, then-Gov. John Hickenlooper, campaign co-chair Kent Thiry, Sen. Steve Fenberg, then-House Speaker Crisanta Duran, House Minority Leader Patrick Neville and campaign co-chair Joe Zimlich stand to listen to then-Senate President Kevin Grantham as he speaks in favor of Amendments Y and Z to overhaul the redistricting process at the Colorado State Capitol on May 16, 2018.
AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post

Citizens passionate about fair elections will come together over the next year to painstakingly plot out the political lines that will govern state and federal races for the next decade — without fear or favor to partisan interests.

At least, that’s the ideal set out by a pair of constitutional amendments, approved by seven in 10 voters, that Colorado will test out for the first time.

Starting in a few months, new independent redistricting commissions will grab the wheel, steering the process of redrawing congressional and legislative districts. It’s a process that in the past has often been dominated by whichever party held more sway.



There’s no guarantee that politics will be left entirely at the door in 2021, of course. A lot will hinge on who gets picked as commissioners, how well they work together, and how they juggle competing interests, including jockeying for an 8th congressional seat that’s expected to be granted to fast-growing Colorado.

Read more via The Denver Post

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