A lawsuit filed by two organizations and two Weld County residents claims Weld County commissioners violated state law through the new county redistricting map. The League of Women Voters of Greeley and Weld County and the Latino Coalition of Weld County are the groups behind the suit. KUNC’s Desmond O’Boyle spoke Monday with Chris Wood, editor and publisher for Biz West, about the implications of the legal action.
Weld County commissioners approved a new map for districts back in March, as mandated by state law. The redistricting process occurs every 10 years for Coloradans, after the census is completed.
But the plaintiffs in the lawsuit say the redistricting process lacked transparency and accuracy.
“They (the plaintiffs) filed lawsuit in Weld County District Court in October over the commissioner redistricting map. They argue that the Weld County commissioners violated that law which governs how districts are formed,” said Wood. “They say that the commissioners did not provide proper notice of hearings on redistricting and did not provide online information on the prospective districts. And they say that the map dividing the districts was improperly drawn.”
The lawsuit cites House Bill 10-47, which passed the State Legislature in 2021. It was passed to discourage gerrymandering, or creating district boundaries for county commissioners that favor one constituency over another. In Weld County, there are three districts with three commissioners elected by district as well as two commissioners at-large.
Wood said controversy mounted over new district boundaries that split up the Latino vote in Weld County.
“It's those three district boundaries that are in question. The law from 2021 intends municipalities and communities of interests be kept together as much as possible when creating new districts for county commissioners,” Wood explained. “But the City of Greeley, which is 40% Latino, is divided into three districts under the new map, which dilutes Latino voting power. And one of the main sponsors for the law has been quoted as saying that the law did apply to Home Rule counties, such as Weld County.”
The question at the heart of the lawsuit is whether Weld County’s status as a Home Rule county supersedes the regulations under Colorado’s HB 10-47 law.
Home Rule status provides more power to jurisdictions to establish their own charters. It’s designed to provide more flexibility in some areas of governance than other cities and counties typically have. Colorado has about 100 Home Rule cities and towns, but only four Home Rule counties.
“Weld County says that the 2021 (HB 10-47) law does not specifically reference Home Rule counties, and that therefore they're not bound by its requirements,” said Wood. “That, of course, is disputed by the plaintiffs and by one of the primary sponsors of the law.”
The League of Women Voters of Greeley and Weld County and the Latino Coalition of Weld County are asking the court to declare that HB 10-47 does apply to Weld County. They want the county to be enjoined from using the new districts created back in March and for the court to order the county to draw new commissioner maps for the 2024 election.
“Weld County commissioners sought an extension of time to respond to the lawsuit, and that request was unopposed,” said Wood. “And last week, the judge granted that motion and gave the county until December 7 to respond.”
