URGENT Help protect Arizona's Independent Redistricting!

 An urgent plea from Felecia Rotellini 

by Felecia for Arizona on Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at 2:33pm

Dear Friends,

Arizona's independent redistricting process is under attack. Senate President Russell Pearce and House Speaker Kirk Adams are trying to subvert the independence of the new Redistricting Commission for their own partisan agendas.  They are putting pressure on the citizen panel, the Arizona Commission for Appellate Court Appointments, who is charged with nominating candidates for the Redistricting Commission. This panel just finished a very transparent and lawful process to pick 25 candidates for the Redistricting Commission. This group of 25 candidates is the pool from which our legislative leaders will pick the final five members of the Redistricting Commission. Russell Pearce and Kirk Adams want to control the process – the process that the citizens of Arizona voted to keep out of their hands!


An AzCentral article with much of the background can be found here:

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2010/12/14/20101214arizona-redistricting-panel-member-quits.html

The Redistricting Commission is responsible for creating our state and federal legislative districts that will be in place for the next ten years. This commission has the ability to create more competitive districts so that every vote counts. That is why voters passed Proposition 106 in 2000 -  so that our redistricting process would be in the hands of independent decision makers. Pearce and Adams are trying to politicize and manipulate the independent process voters approved 10 years ago and appoint their partisan favorites. We can't let that happen! 

Below is a letter from a dozen Arizona leaders of both parties calling on the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments to stand up to this raw political pressure.  Please let the Appellate Commission know they did a good job selecting the most qualified nominees and legislators shouldn't interfere with their work.

Please send an e-mail to the Chief Justice and the Appellate Commission supporting their work. Email addresses are:


jnc@courts.az.gov and vhaney@courts.az.gov

The deadline for public comment is TOMORROW, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, so please get your e-mail in ASAP.

The Appellate  Commission will meet Wednesday, December 29, to consider the legislators' complaints.  The meeting is scheduled for 9 a.m. at 1501 W. Washington St., Phoenix, AZ (State Court House) and there is an opportunity for public testimony.

Please don't let Russell Pearce and Kirk Adams control the redistricting process for the next 10 years! Send your e-mail now!

Let’s keep fighting for Arizona!
Felecia Rotellini