TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas’ highest court has declared that the state constitution does not prohibit partisan gerrymandering.
The justices split 4-3 Tuesday in explaining their reasons for previously upholding a Republican congressional redistricting law. The state Supreme Court issued only a brief opinion last month in approving the new congressional map. The new map makes it harder for Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids to win reelection in her Kansas City-area district. It also moves the liberal northeast Kansas community of Lawrence into a district with conservative western and central Kansas.
The court’s majority said the Kansas Constitution permits legislators to consider partisan factors in redistricting.
