FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — Kentucky's redistricted Congressional and House maps will become the center of a hearing at the Franklin County Courthouse on Thursday.
The Kentucky Democratic Party is suing over the redistricted maps. In the lawsuit, Democrats claim both new maps involve partisan gerrymandering, which violates the state constitution. The suit also challenges the "excessively and unnecessarily splitting counties."
Governor Andy Beshear initially vetoed the Republicans' redistricting plans, but the GOP used their legislative power to override the veto.
House Speaker David Osborne told LEX 18 he believes the maps will hold up in court.
"I'm very, very confident that the map will withstand any challenge," said Osborne.
UK professor Josh Douglas described the maps as extremely partisan gerrymanders. He also said there's mathematical proof the maps are not fair.
The efficiency gap is one way to measure the partisan skew, and when it comes to the House map, Douglas said the results are clear.
"It's king of off the charts when looking at this measure called the efficiency gap," said Douglas. "It over-represents Republican voices. It means Republicans will win a handful more seats than they would under almost any other map run through a process that doesn't consider purely partisanship when drawing the lines."
He also told us, the shape of district one on the Congressional map reminds people of the original gerrymander from the 1800s.
GOP leaders say the maps are fair. The issue is expected to go to the state Supreme Court.
