OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Voters packed a room inside the Matt Ross Community Center in Overland Park, Kansas, on Thursday to express their concerns to lawmakers over redistricting.
Residents were concerned about lawmakers drawing new boundaries for the third congressional district currently occupied by Representative Sharice Davids.
In Topeka, Republicans make up the majority in the state legislature. Redistricting there happens every ten years and lawmakers are in control of deciding how new districts are drawn.
Democrat State Representative Stephanie Clayton said she is concerned over gerrymandering changing how the third congressional district looks in the future.
“Right now our two senators are from western Kansas, so we really don’t have representation there and so we deserve to have our voice in Washington which is why Johnson and Wyandotte County need to be put together," Clayton said.
Republican State Representative Chris Croft said partisan politics is not controlling the conversation in the redistricting townhalls.
“Our goal in this thing is to be transparent and we want to have a lot of public access to this and understanding what we’re doing," Croft said.
Johnson County residents who attended Thursday's town hall said they want lawmakers to know they want the process to be fair.
“Every voice matters. Every vote matters," Connie Taylor with the League of Women Voters said. “My main focus is that we keep the third congressional district intact with Johnson and Wyandotte County."
Other voters like Nicole Berry spoke before lawmakers at the townhall to express concerned gerrymandering could silence her voice as a voter.
“You have your representatives there to speak on behalf of your community and to do things for the community. If you don’t have that representation than you lose your power when it comes to being politically active," Berry said.
The week-long, statewide townhalls will end Friday with events being held in Lawrence and Leavenworth.
