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What You Need to Know About Colorado’s Redistricting Process
The state's new independent redistricting commissions will draw the maps that shape the political landscape for the next 10 years. Will the process be able to ensure fairness amid data delays and rampant polarization?Sara Fleming •
April 8, 2021
You’ve likely been hearing about Colorado’s redistricting process more than ever. That’s because the once-a-decade undertaking, which determines the boundaries for both congressional and state legislative districts, is going to look a bit different this go around.
In 2018, Colorado voters passed two ballot referendums, Amendments Y and Z, each with about 71 percent of the vote. The measures require the state to set up two independent commissions, one tasked with congressional redistricting and another with state legislative redistricting. Each commission features a 12-member panel composed of Colorado residents: four registered Democrats, four Republicans, and four unaffiliated commissioners. The people chosen can’t be legislators, recent political candidates, party officials, or lobbyists.