Independent redistricting commission proposed

A constitutional amendment creating an independent redistricting commission responsible for drawing House and Senate districts every 10 years following the U.S. census has been proposed.

Senate Bill 14, sponsored by Sen. Kyra Hoffner, D-Smyrna, and co-sponsored by Rep. Claire Snyder-Hall, D-Rehoboth Beach, is the first leg of the amendment that would create a five-member commission comprising two members of the majority party, two of the minority party and one unaffiliated with either of those. The bill would also require representation by at least one of the three counties, and the city of Wilmington. 

Snyder-Hall supported the creation of an independent committee during her time as executive director of Common Cause Delaware, and as a newly elected representative for the Rehoboth Beach and Lewes area, she has included it among her priorities for this legislative session.

“It would change the law so that legislators aren’t creating their own districts for themselves. It would be independent,” she said. “The voters ought to chose the elected officials, not vice versa. Hopefully it will pass.”

She said redistricting is something nobody thinks about until the decade is up and the process begins again.

“We’re working ahead on that, trying to get our ducks in a row in time for the next redistricting in 2030,” she said. 

As a constitutional amendment, the legislation would require two-thirds approval by both legislative houses in two successive General Assembly sessions.

The bill awaits action in the Senate Executive Committee.

Bail bill 

A separate piece of legislation, SB 11, is the second leg of a constitutional amendment to modernize bail in Delaware. 

The bill seeks to grant a general right to have bail set in a criminal case, except for capital murder and other felonies in which bail may be withheld. In non-capital cases, the bill states, bail can be withheld only if clear and convincing evidence shows that it’s needed to ensure a person appears for court proceeding, or to protect the community, victims, witnesses or others. 

The amendment already passed the previous General Assembly and will become part of the state constitution if passed with two-thirds approval by both houses.