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MT panel drawing new legislative districts gets new chair
By: Mike Dennison
and last updated 2020-12-17 20:40:27-05
HELENA â The five-member panel that will draw Montanaâs new legislative districts, to reflect population changes in the 2020 Census, has a new chair: Former University of Montana law professor and Confederated Salish and Kootenai tribal attorney Maylinn Smith.
The Montana Supreme Court appointed Smith on Wednesday, to replace Districting and Apportionment Commission Chair Sheila Stearns, who resigned for personal health reasons.
The commission also would draw the boundaries for a new congressional district in Montana â although itâs not yet known if Montana will get the additional district in 2022 or remain as a single, at-large statewide district.
Sheila Stearns Steps Down from Redistricting Role in Montana
If Montana gets a second member of Congress following the latest US Census, a panel of five Montanans would determine where the lines are drawn. Would we have an eastern seat and a western seat? Or, would we have a northern seat, and a southern seat? Would the lines be fairly drawn, or would one political party gerrymander the boundaries just to favor their own political party?
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The answers to those questions depends on who sits on a very important commission known as the Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission.