With Indiana lawmakers set to reconvene at the end of the year to “approve new congressional and General Assembly districts,” nonpartisan organization Common Cause Indiana hosted a voting rights webinar this past week to educate Hoosiers on many aspects of redistricting across the state.

The state’s history of gerrymandering in the drawing of its districts has led both Indiana voters and a number of experts to call for an independent redistricting process, free of partisan influence, to ensure the protection of democratic processes within Indiana.

Hosting the event was Common Cause representative Julia Vaughn who opened the webinar with a brief update on the status of current redistricting efforts.

"The centerpiece of our redistricting work this year is the Indiana citizens redistricting commission or ICRC; this model redistricting commission is demonstrating how redistricting should be done in our state by a diverse and multi-partisan group of voters who have no direct interest in the outcome of the process. Our nine member model commission is made up of Democrats, Republicans, and people who don't align with any political party. They have held 10 virtual hearings to take public testimony, and to identify communities of interest around the state; almost 900 Hoosiers participated in those hearings. The information that was glean from the public testimony was compiled into a report that we send to the legislative leaders.

We are now seeking meetings with these legislators to discuss the reports and recommendations and ask for commitments to conduct redistricting in an open and transparent manner to provide real opportunities for public participation and to draw districts that prioritize the needs of voters and communities over politicians or political parties. You can help by sending our report to your state representative and state senator, and by sending to the Speaker of the House Todd Houston and President Pro Temp Rod Bray. Tell them you support the ICRC recommendations and want a commitment from them that they will only support new district maps there were drawn in an open and transparent process that is fair, impartial, and non-discriminatory."

The webinar included a panel of voting rights experts who shared with the public audience their combined decades of experience and expertise in this field. Members of the panel included Ami Gandhi, Senior Counsel at Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Bill Groth, an Indiana voting rights attorney, and Rod Bohannan an Indianapolis attorney and NAACP Indianapolis leader.

As the first panel member to speak during the webinar, Bill Groth reviewed the history of discrimination by means of gerrymandering in Indiana’s redistricting process. Groth discussed a number of legal cases over the past century that have marked significant decisions for in-state voting laws.

Next to speak was Ami Gandhi who offered her insight into why redistricting in Indiana is such an important issue.

"This process by which the state and local governments redraw the maps, every 10 years shape the power and shape methods by which we can hold our elected officials accountable. We've heard about how this happens once every 10 years based on census, and population data, and where the lines are drawn can determine where people can vote, who we can vote for, and how elected officials are responsive or not responsive to our requests as constituents, and the lines that will be drawn this year will lock in for many years what the political power structure will look like and the representation of respective ...