“The only way that you could ensure that a district has rural representation is that the district only has precincts that are not in the City of Lawrence,” [Douglas County Clerk Jami] Shew told the Journal-World Friday. “That’s why that map was presented, some people said they wanted to make sure that there was a rural commissioner. Well, that’s the only way you can get it, because both the U.S. and Kansas Constitutions state that if you reside in a district, you have a right to file for and serve in any office that is within that district.” Because the districts are required by state statute to be contiguous and as equal in population as possible, doing much more than that is impossible based on the percentage of the population that lives in Lawrence, Shew said.
Source: LJWorld
