A word from Wendy Rogers on AIRC

May we all please stick to the facts regarding Governor
Brewer, the state senate, and Arizona's Independent
Redistricting commission (IRC)? In clearly written language,
the voters of Arizona specifically charged the governor and
state senate with the obligation to watch over the IRC.
Here’s what the Arizona Constitution says:  "After having
been served written notice and provided with an opportunity
for a response, a member of the Independent Redistricting
Commission may be removed by the governor, with the
concurrence of two-thirds of the [state] senate, for
substantial neglect of duty, gross misconduct in office, or
inability to discharge the duties of office." The Arizona
Constitution prohibits the IRC from gerrymandering the
districts—yet that’s exactly what the IRC did. The AZ
Constitution requires the districts to 1) be compact, 2)
respect communities of interest, and 3) respect natural
boundaries.  ONLY ONCE THESE REQUIREMENTS ARE MET
FIRST, can the IRC then make the districts competitive.
However in this case, the IRC sacrificed those requirements in
order to first create competitive districts.  No one denies that
the districts were gerrymandered. Just one example: Newly-
drawn Congressional District 1 has Kingman down to Yuma
swinging over to include Prescott and Payson down to Queen
Creek - - all in the same district.  This is quite literally by
definition, "unconstitutional".  Thus, what has occurred is a
clear violation of the constitutional requirements.

(via Wendy Rogers)