Redistricting lapses

Dear Editor,

It is interesting to note that the Redistricting Committee failed to follow its own guidelines as set forth in LR102. Some such deviations are addressed below.

Paragraph 3: "...boundaries shall follow county lines whenever practicable and shall define districts that are compact and contiguous as articulated by the United States Supreme Court ..."

Paragraph 4: "...boundaries shall define districts that are readily identifiable and understandable to voters and that preserve the cores of prior districts..."

Paragraph 5: "...boundaries shall not be established with the intention of favoring a political party ..."

In no way does plucking Bellevue and Offutt Air Force Base out of the eastern part of Sarpy County meet any of the above standards.

The proposal that came out of committee, strictly on party-line votes, implodes the core of the county, is not compact and disrupts the contiguous affiliation of Offutt AF Base to the greater Omaha community. What does Offutt, or Bellevue for that matter, have in common with CD1, whose core is Lincoln?

I venture, you will not find a voter who will understand and or be able to identify the proposed boundary in that it in no way preserves the core of the prior district.

The only conclusion one can draw is in direct violation of Paragraph 5: "...favoring a political party...." President Obama gaining one electoral vote in CD2 in 2008 and the failure of LB21 -- eliminate the split electoral vote in Nebraska -- getting out of committee has, apparently, driven the governor and his supporters, via this proposal to strip CD2 of the core of Democrats in Sarpy County and pull in the Republican-rich west Sarpy.

Stop it now!

Peg O'Dea Lippert

Papillion, Nebraska