Redistricting

Proposed redistricting plans from the House Republicans and Senate Democrats were released this week. Here’s some of the reactionThe:

• The Division of Legislatives Services redistricting site, which includes the proposed maps and a ton of census data about Virginia.
• The Virginian-Pilot has the maps in Google Map format.
• The single best resource in following the maps has been the Virginia Public Access Project and their redistricting portal. They have fantastic analysis of each plan up and charts and scatterplots looking at the partisan distribution of the new districts.
• They also have the big picture analysis of who’s districts disappeared and who got drawn into a district with another elected official.
• Waldo Jaquith is disillusioned.
• Not Larry Sabato is not happy with the Democratic plan.
• Meanwhile, Gov. McDonnell’s bipartisan commission offered up their own plans.
• But Democrats are attacking McDonnell, claiming he plans to ignore his own commission.
• And at the end of the day, a groups of college students may well have drawn the best maps.

Other News

• A map of how every state did on the US PIRG transparency survey we mentioned last edition.
• Open government activists are concerned that federal budget cuts will wipe out transparency programs.
• A look at a proposal to make California more open.