INDIANAPOLIS | House Democrats will propose their own redistricting maps Thursday to counter Republican-drawn districts Democrats say may run afoul of federal law.
State Rep. John Bartlett, D-Indianapolis, is expected to tell the House Elections Committee that the GOP proposal illegally packs African Americans into a few House districts, deliberately reducing their influence in other districts.
The maps also fail to create, where practical, a majority Hispanic district to represent the 6 percent of Hoosiers of Hispanic origin, according to an advance copy of Bartlett's speech obtained by The Times.
Bartlett is expected to say that without a delay to come up with better maps, voters will suffer.
"Unfortunately, Hoosiers will have little time to see that they will be stuck with gerrymandered, possibly illegal, and certainly misrepresented maps for the next 10 years," he'll say.
The House and Senate election committees took more than four hours of public testimony Wednesday concerning the Congressional and legislative maps proposed by the Republican majorities in both chambers.
State Rep. Don Lehe, R-Brookston, said he believes the GOP maps are an improvement because they split fewer towns among several districts compared to the 2001 maps drawn by House Democrats.
"I think we've got fair districts, they're common-sense and most people would agree with that," Lehe said.
State Rep. Linda Lawson, D-Hammond, doesn't agree.
She believes in several districts Republicans, possibly at the national level, drew incumbent Democrats into one district, leaving open seats that will benefit Republican House candidates that lost in 2010.
"I find it really hard to believe anyone local did these maps," Lawson said.
Legislative districts are redrawn every 10 years following the U.S. Census to ensure district populations are nearly equal. New maps must be approved before the Legislature adjourns April 29.