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Dan McKay, ABQJournal – New Mexico’s 19 pueblos and the Jicarilla Apache Nation have filed redistricting plans they say would protect the voting strength of Native American communities and begin to address a history of “voter disenfranchisement and suppression.” The tribes submitted plans to redraw New Mexico’s congressional district boundaries and, in the northwest part of the state, the legislative districts. [READ MORE]
Patrick Lohmann, SourceNM – When rural New Mexicans gather each year for “la limpia de la acequia,” it’s about more than just clearing the vital irrigation channels of dirt and debris, according to the New Mexico Acequia Association. The annual ritual, in fact, shows how communities are shaped around acequias and why political districts should be drawn with the ditches in mind. Having an acequia builds a sense of neighborliness through water-sharing agreements and the annual cleaning, the association argues; and democracy emerges through regular maintenance meetings. [READ MORE]
Robert Nott, Santa Fe New Mexican – A committee tasked with drawing election district boundaries on behalf of a coalition of Native American communities on Friday submitted a proposal that would dramatically shake up the state’s three congressional districts. Under the plan created by the All Pueblo Council of Governors’ Ad Hoc Redistricting Committee, the northernmost 3rd Congressional District, which includes Santa Fe, would extend down into what is now the 2nd Congressional District in Southern New Mexico to incorporate portions of the Mescalero Apache Tribe. That also would expand the Albuquerque-centric 1st Congressional District to the southwest to “unpack some of that population and political power and get it distributed to the south,” said Keegan King of Acoma Pueblo, a committee co-chairman. [READ MORE]
Dan McKay, ABQJournal – SANTA FE – Rio Rancho could gain a seat in the state House under redistricting plans issued this week as New Mexico prepares to draw new political boundaries. The new Rio Rancho district would come at the expense of either rural northern New Mexico or the Northeast Heights of Albuquerque. But neither idea is set in stone. They’re just among the options the Citizens Redistricting Committee is asking New Mexicans to evaluate and comment on. [READ MORE]
Dan McKay, Albuquerque Journal – SANTA FE – Albuquerque could share a congressional district with Rio Rancho or Santa Fe under proposals moving forward as New Mexico prepares to redraw its political boundaries. Parts of the far South Valley in Bernalillo County, by contrast, could move into a southern New Mexico-based district. The ideas are outlined in seven potential maps – covering a host of competing concepts – approved Thursday for further scrutiny and to solicit public comment. [READ MORE]
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