By GARRETT BERGQUIST
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
Organizers of a petition drive against redistricting on Tuesday said any attempt to redraw Indiana’s Congressional maps early ignores the will of voters.
Representatives from groups including Common Cause Indiana, the League of Women Voters and Indiana Conservation Voters visited the offices of Gov. Mike Braun, Senate President Pro Tempore Rod Bray and House Speaker Todd Huston, all Republicans, on Tuesday morning to ceremonially deliver a petition with roughly 8,900 signatures from voters opposed to redistricting.
The actual signatures were sent electronically, so petitioners brought oversize letters urging officials to ignore calls from the Trump administration to redraw the maps. None of those three officials were in their offices when the petitioners arrived.
“It is very clear to us from our petition gathering, from letters and phone calls that have been made, that this is something that is being pushed from outsiders,” Common Cause Indiana Executive Director Julia Vaughn said. “People from outside Indiana want this to happen for purely political reasons but Hoosiers are opposed to it.”
The U.S. Constitution requires a census to be taken every 10 years. The data from the census is then used to draw Congressional districts, ensuring every district is as close in population as possible.
Like their counterparts in other states, Indiana lawmakers set the state’s current Congressional maps in 2021 using the data from the 2020 census. Once set, legislative maps normally don’t change until after the next census unless there is a court challenge.
President Donald Trump this summer urged Republican state lawmakers across the country to redraw their maps to favor Republican candidates ahead of next year’s midterms.
The Republican Party holds only a narrow majority in the U.S. House and the incumbent president’s party often loses control of that chamber in the midterms. Vice President JD Vance in August met with Indiana state lawmakers to urge them to redraw Indiana’s maps, which currently have seven safe Republican seats, one safe Democratic seat and one seat in northwest Indiana where Democrats hold a narrow electoral edge.
Texas and California have already engaged in tit-for-tat redistricting sessions and Missouri lawmakers are now changing their maps. Vaughn says that will further increase pressure on Indiana lawmakers to call their own session.
“We haven’t been afraid to be independent thinkers before,” she said. “Our purpose here is to demonstrate to our elected officials that Hoosiers don’t want a special session. If you convene one, they will be unhappy about it and just leave well enough alone.”
Braun has consistently said he will not call a special session unless he gets a clear signal from legislative Republicans they want one. Huston and Braun have consistently said they are waiting to hear from members of their caucuses.
News 8 has not yet heard back from any of them regarding Tuesday’s petition delivery.
This story was originally published by WISH-TV at wishtv.com/news/indiana-news/indiana-redistricting-petition-drive.