Iowa Legislature meets to consider second redistricting map

By DAVID PITT
Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Legislature will convene for its second special session in a month to consider another plan for redrawing boundaries for the state’s legislative and congressional districts. The second gathering Thursday was required after the Iowa Senate rejected the first plan drawn by the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency in a one-day session on Oct. 5. Republicans who control both chambers said some legislative districts were irregularly shaped and population deviations should be improved in a second map. The LSA drafts maps following detailed guidelines to ensure population balance among Iowa’s congressional districts and to prevent political influence. The Legislature can only accept or reject the first and second set of maps. In the third round, legislators could make changes.