Election districts still undecided
Interim Plan
Election districts in the Yukon-Kuskokwim region remain undecided after Judge Michael McConahy of Fairbanks rejected, on April 20, the Alaska Redistricting Board’s revision of the plan, which was redrawn after an earlier plan was rejected by the Alaska Supreme Court.
The redistricting board met on April 25 and unanimously voted to appeal McConahy’s decision in the 2011 Redistricting Cases v. Alaska Redistricting Board with the Alaska Supreme Court, according to the board’s Website at akredistricting.org
The board will ask the court to overturn McConahy’s decision and approve the Amended Proclamation Plan as adopted April 5.
Amended Plan
As a contingency the board authorized its legal counsel to draft a petition seeking to use its Original Proclamation Plan for the 2012 elections. The supreme court allowed for the option in its March 14 order, finding that if the board’s Amended Proclamation Plan was not approved by both the state court and the U.S. Department of Justice in time for this year’s elections, it could petition for use of its Original Proclamation Plan as an interim plan.
On April 5 the board adopted a plan to be used as an interim plan, along with adopting the Amended Proclamation Plan with McConahy rejected. The interim plan is based on the board’s Original Proclamation Plan, with fixes made across the Fairbanks North Star Borough districts as mandated by the Alaska Supreme Court.