By Howard Fischer
CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES
PHOENIX - A state judge threw this year's legislative elections into chaos Friday,
blocking the state from using current district boundaries to elect lawmakers.
The Independent Redistricting Commission violated constitutional requirements
by drawing districts without trying hard enough to make them politically competitive,
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Fields ruled.
He said that violated the rights of some Arizonans - mainly a coalition of Hispanics
and Democrats - who sued, saying the resulting maps were not fair. A majority
of the districts are populated largely with Republicans.
The judge made it clear that, at the very least, there should be more districts
where Democrats have at least a fighting chance of getting elected.
And that could affect the balance at the Legislature, where the GOP controls
the Senate by a 17-13 margin and the House by 39-20, with one independent.
Fields pointed to a proposal offered by the two Dem-ocrats on the redistricting
commission, which would have created seven competitive districts.
The adopted plan, however, had only four, he said.
The judge said that broke faith with voters.
Friday's ruling does not affect the lines for the state's eight congressional
districts, also drawn by the commission, which Fields concluded do comply with
the law.
But the judge blocked the state from conducting any elections using the current
legislative plan.
The ruling came at a time when lawmakers and challengers are already circulating
petitions for election within the districts they believe they represent.
Fields also ordered the commission to reconvene and, within 45 days, adopt a
new plan to be used this coming year and through the 2010 election.
The judge said that if the commission fails to act he will appoint an independent
special master - essentially an arbiter - to create a plan that complies with
the constitution.
The commission also violated the constitution, Fields wrote, by considering
and identifying where incumbents live before they adopted its final plan.
Commission attorney Lisa Hauser said she expects her clients to appeal.
In the same order, the judge rejected challenges to the lines by Flagstaff.
The city com-plained about being included in a district dominated by the Navajo
Nation and being separated from its suburbs.
But Hauser said that by voiding the map because of insufficient competitive
districts, the judge essentially has reopened the debate on all 30 legislative
districts. That is because a change in the lines of one or more districts will
affect others as they, too, have to be adjusted to keep population equal and
comply with other laws.
The ruling is a defeat for Republicans who found that the lines adopted two
years ago by the commission gave them more "safe" districts where
the party had a strong voter edge compared to the prior decade.
State Sen. Dean Martin, R-Phoenix, said the ruling came at the worst possible
time for legislative candidates.
"This is right when most candidates are starting to collect (nomination)
signatures and declaring their intent to run," Martin said. He said the
result could be fewer candidates on the ballot in Novem-ber.
But state Rep. Steve Gallardo, D-Phoenix, a member of the coalition that filed
suit, dismissed such concerns. He pointed out that district maps weren't set
until three months before the 2002 primary.
Voters created the commission in 2000 to draw congressional and legislative
districts rather than have that work done by state lawmakers.
The constitutional amendment requires the five-member commission to create districts
that are generally equal in population and "geographically compact and
contiguous" and that "respect communities of interest" to the
extent possible.
The districts also must comply with the federal Voting Rights Act, which bars
any changes that dilute minority voting strength.
Friday's ruling does not affect the lines for the state's eight congressional
districts, also drawn by the commission. The judge said that while the commission
also violated the requirements for competitiveness, there was no way to redraw
the lines without diluting minority voting strength which, in turn, would violate
the Voting Rights Act.
* Le Templar of Tribune Newspapers contributed to this report.