The state Republican Party filed a lawsuit in September, saying it was unlikely that the Legislature would complete the task and asked federal judges to redraw the four district lines to match population shifts gleaned by the 2010 census.
When asked about congressional redistricting last week, Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said, “It will be expensive to add an additional election to the already scheduled presidential election. We would hope this could be avoided by meeting the necessary deadlines.”
Mississippians will enter 2012 with no clear picture of the number of times or for what offices they may be asked to vote. Legislative elections have just been completed.
But during the 2011 session the Legislature could not agree on a plan to redraw the 174 legislative districts to match population shifts. Legislative elections – based on the order of a three-judge federal panel – were held under the old district lines.
There is a possibility that the judicial panel could order new legislative elections this year under new district lines. But the panel stressed earlier this year it had not reached a decision on whether a new round of elections would be ordered in 2012.
NEMS
11/21/11
Magnolia Tribune
