CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada lawmakers have passed a Republican-backed bill creating a committee to help the Legislature in redistricting.
Lawmakers voted to approve AB252 on a party-line 24-17 vote on Thursday. The bill now moves to the Senate.
The bill would create a four-person committee charged with creating three potential options every ten years for redistricting, which changes the boundaries of legislative and congressional districts based on population changes.
Republican bill sponsor Lynn Stewart said that final approval of any redistricting process would be up to the Legislature and that the process would help lawmakers avoid drawn-out partisan battles over legislative boundaries.
Assembly Democrats said they were concerned that the commission would create overly-partisan maps and that the redistricting duty should lie solely with elected lawmakers.