Editorial: Redistricting follies

Friday, March 5, 2004 | 9:21 a.m.

It was just two years ago that the Las Vegas City Council redrew the geographic boundaries for the wards that its members represent, the kind of redistricting that governments usually undertake just every 10 years following the release of the federal census. But six months ago Councilman Michael Mack said new ward maps should be drawn because of sizable population increases that have created a disparity among wards. City staff reports that the population can vary from a low of 79,630, which is the number of people who live in Councilwoman Janet Moncrief's Ward 1, to a high of 103,883, which is the number of residents estimated to live in Mack's Ward 6.

Representation among the wards should be as equal as possible in order to make sure that the residents who live in high-growth areas don't have their concerns, and their influence, appreciably diluted. Ward boundaries could be changed every year to reduce disparities, but doing so could create a worse problem, that of residents being disenfranchised. Voters could be left out because the City Council elections are staggered. Elections for Wards 1, 3 and 5 occurred in 2003 while Wards 2, 4 and 6 will hold contests in 2005. So, as Sun reporter Sito Negron noted in a story this week about redistricting, Las Vegas resident Pamela Stancliffe lived in Las Vegas for almost six years before she was eligible to cast a vote for City Council. As Las Vegas redistricted and added council seats, she got bounced around between Wards 1 and 2, so she had no opportunity to v ote.

When Mack proposed redistricting back in September, other members of the City Council reacted cautiously. We've seen nothing since then that changes our opposition to rashly redistricting and we believe the City Council should reject any efforts to do so. Redrawing the boundaries of the wards every 10 years is the right course.