The following is from an article written by Kelly Hawes from CNHI News Indiana, a local newspaper. Take a look at the article titled, Kelly Hawes column: Is citizen-led redistricting coming to Indiana?:

Reform advocates will be pushing for passage of Senate Bill 159 sponsored by Republicans John Ruckelshaus of Indianapolis and Mike Bohacek of Michiana Shores. The bill is similar to the one that failed to get out of committee during last year’s session.

“We think it’s a better bill,” Vaughn said. “It addresses the questions that were raised with last year’s bill.”

The measure would create a nine-member commission made up of a Republican and a Democrat from both the House and Senate along with five members of the public selected by a committee of university presidents. Maps drawn by the commission would then be subject to approval by the General Assembly.

The following excerpt is from an article written by Adrianna Pitrelli, a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students. Take a look at the article titled, Activists push for fair legislative district boundaries:

Two state Senate Republicans, John Ruckelshaus, of Indianapolis, and Mike Bohacek, of Michiana Shores, have introduced a bill to create a nonpartisan commission to draw legislative district boundaries.

Those boundaries must be redrawn every 10 years following the census, a task that generally falls to state legislatures. The only requirements are that all districts must be nearly equal in population and adhere to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits discrimination based on race.

Lawmakers typically draw district lines to favor their own party, but critics say it was taken to a new level after 2010 when Republicans swept state legislatures across the country.

Also a video titled, ‘Redistricting 101: Introduction to the Issue, with an Indiana Focus‘ was posted by the organization Indiana Redistricting and contains an exhaustive redistricting reform presentation by the policy director for Common Cause Indiana, Julia Vaughn. In the hour long video, Vaughn “discusses why our approach to drawing legislative maps damages Indiana democracy, discuss the key principles of non-partisan, independent redistricting, and the debate & campaign for reform in Indiana”. See in full here:

Finally, take a look at the following is from the article, Northwest Indiana senator wants commission, not lawmakers, to draw legislative district boundaries. Take a look:

A Northwest Indiana state senator is leading an effort to reform how boundaries for the state’s congressional and General Assembly districts are drawn, with an eye toward greater transparency and less partisanship. State Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores, is co-sponsor of Senate Bill 159. It establishes a redistricting commission to draw the lines with significant public input, rather than leaving the redistricting process solely in the hands of self-interested state legislators.

His measure, co-sponsored by state Sen. John Ruckelshaus, R-Indianapolis, creates a nine-member redistricting commission to lead the redrawing of legislative boundaries in 2021, following the once-a-decade national population count set for 2020.