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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowI read your recent editorial regarding redistricting [Governor should take lead on redistricting, Jan. 12]. We asked Hoosiers about their views regarding this issue in the 2017 Old National Bank/Ball State University Hoosier Survey.
We asked: Every 10 years the state redraws district boundaries for elective offices to accommodate shifts in population from one area to another within the state. As you may know, the process is currently handled by the state Legislature and the governor. Would you prefer to see the process handled by an independent nonpartisan body or should Indiana keep the current process in place?
Results:
• Handled by an independent nonpartisan body: 47 percent
• Keep current process: 43 percent
• Don’t know/refused to answer: 9 percent
These results represent a substantial shift in Hoosier opinion toward an independent nonpartisan redistricting process since we last asked this question in 2010. That year, a bare majority of 51 percent preferred the current process; 35 percent preferred the independent body. This issue is one in which Democrats and Republicans have starkly different preferences. Republicans prefer the current process by a margin of 60 percent to 33 percent. Democrats prefer to switch to an independent nonpartisan process by a margin of 60 percent to 32 percent.
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Charles Taylor, managing director
Bowen Center for Public Affairs, Ball State University
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