League of Women Voters of New Jersey Seeks Public’s Input into Redistricting Process

Nonpartisan organization leads charge to maximize public involvement in map drawing process

Trenton, NJ- Following their successful defeat of legislation that sought a constitutional amendment to make ill-advised changes to the redistricting process, the League of Women Voters of New Jersey has announced that the nonpartisan organization will be hosting a series of public forums in the new year to present redistricting reform best practices and to seek public feedback into suggested redistricting reform proposals.

“The League of Women Voters is a national leader and recognized expert on redistricting, successfully reforming the process in several states, including our most recent victory in Utah with the passage of Proposition 4 establishing an independent redistricting commission there,” said Jesse Burns, League of Women Voters of New Jersey Executive Director. “In every state, we partner with other nonpartisan experts to ensure that we are working toward a redistricting process that is transparent, inclusive and puts voters first.”

In New Jersey, the League of Women Voters launched the Fair Districts New Jersey campaign, www.fairdistrictsnj.org, approximately a year ago and has since been traveling the state discussing redistricting with lawmakers, community groups, other nonprofits, and various stakeholders. Fair Districts New Jersey proposes improvements that put power into the hands of voters and not politicians, ensuring that our redistricting process is community-driven, protects communities of color and communities of interest, is transparent, impartial, and inclusive, and allows for maximum public input and engagement.

The League of Women Voters was a lead organization mobilizing opposition to SCR152/ACR205 and was pleased to see lawmakers indicate their willingness to listen to public outcry, withdraw their proposal, and commit to consider the input received by the League and partners in developing better measures to improve New Jersey’s redistricting process.

“The League works to maximize the voice of voters in their government,” added Burns. “To that end, we are excited to continue to solicit public input into proposals and continue our discussions with lawmakers to discuss possible reforms, including changes to the makeup of the commission, increasing the number of required public hearings, allowing for those hearings to be more impactful, encouraging bipartisan cooperation, providing explicit protections for communities of color, adding reporting requirements, as well as other changes that will result in all New Jerseyans being equally and fairly represented.”

The League, along with their partners in redistricting reform, will discuss these proposed changes and provide an opportunity for the public, community groups, and all interested parties to submit their suggestions for reform at the series of public forums. The League will convey public suggestions to decision-makers as they continue their policy talks. The organization will post the forum schedule and mechanism for collecting public comments early in the new year.