Independent redistricting petition withdrawn

An initiative petition seeking to take redistricting power away from state lawmakers was withdrawn Tuesday.

The petition, backed by a group called People Not Politicians, sought to el i minate partisan gerry - mandering from Oklahoma's redistricting process.

The state's legislative and congressional districts are redrawn every decade foll owing t he completion of the U.S. Census. Oklahoma's GOP-led Legislature has already started the process of redrawing the districts next year.

Proposed State Question 810 would have vested the power to draw districts with a nine-member independent commission comprising nonelected officials.

The group' s executive director confirmed Friday the petition was withdrawn.

“Between the unnecessary lawsuits by politicians and delays due to the COVID19 pandemic, we are unable to make the ballot this year, and have thus withdrawn SQ810," said People Not Politicians Executive Director Andy Moore.

"It' s downright laughable that on the birthday of Elbridge Gerry — the father of American gerrymandering and the person from whom we derive the term — Oklahoma politicians are celebrating that they will have the ability to gerrymander once again. The fight for fair maps on Oklahoma is far from over.”

The COVID-19 pandemic complicated the already arduous initiative petition process.

Having initially filed the petition in October, a series of court challenges and complications from the pandemic have resulted in proponents being unable to collect signatures to qualify the measure for the ballot. The drop-dead deadline to qualify for the ballot this year is Aug. 24.

Oklahoma's Republican leaders celebrated the petition' s withdrawal. Both House Speaker Charles Mc Call, R-Atoka, and Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, opposed the petition.

“It is a victory today for Oklahoma' s democratic redistricting process as proponents of an ill-advised and purely political movement have withdrawn their initiative petition to redraw Oklahoma congressional and legislative districts," state Republican Party Chairman David McLain said ." The Oklahoma Republican Party stands behind the Oklahoma Legislature and trusts members of both parties to fairly draw new boundaries based on the results of the 2020 Census."

Treat, who praised the news, said the Oklahoma Senate will carry out its redistricting responsibilities in a professional and thorough manner.