INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Republicans pushed their party’s redrawing of Indiana’s election districts for congressional and legislative seats through the Indiana House on Thursday, casting aside objections that the new maps give the GOP an excessive partisan advantage.
House members voted 67-31 largely on party lines to endorse the redistricting plan, sending it to the state Senate for possible final approval next week.
The new election districts would take effect next year and be in place through the 2030 elections.
Political analysts say the new maps protect the Republican dominance that has given them a 7-2 majority of Indiana’s U.S. House seats and commanding majorities in the state Legislature.
Republicans maintain they’ve followed all federal and state laws for the once-a-decade redrawing of legislative maps to match population changes recorded by the census while avoiding splitting counties and cities between multiple districts as much as possible.