Russell names three masters to handle redistricting

District Judge Todd Russell has named three people including Carson Clerk/Recorder Alan Glover as masters to handle the process of redistricting both Nevada's four seats in the House of Representatives and the Legislature.

"It's a very doable job," said Glover. He is also a former state Senator and Assembly member who has participated in the redistricting process in those capacities.

The other two are Tom Sheets and Bob Erickson. Sheets is a prominent Las Vegas lawyer with the firm of McDonald, Carano, Wilson. He was chairman of the Nevada Tax Commission for six years and has served with the American Arbitration Association for more than 30 years.

Erickson was director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau's Research Division from 1985 until his retirement in 2003. In that capacity, he managed both the 1991 and 2001 reapportionment/redistricting efforts.

In addition, Russell set a Sept. 19 hearing to resolve legal issues and provide the team of masters with instructions.

"What we'll do is obviously wait until after the hearing on the 19th and wait for instructions from the judge on what exactly we're supposed to do," said Glover. "Hopefully we'll have a rather detailed game plan here."

Russell's order said the September hearing will not only set provide the masters with some instructions but resolve the legal issues including population requirements for redistricting maps, criteria to be used including preserving communities of interest and county/political boundaries. It will set the appropriate starting point for the masters. Democrats argue the starting point should be the maps they submitted to and vetoed by Gov. Brian Sandoval. Republicans argue the maps should be the existing districts since the vetoed maps were never actually legal maps.

He will handle arguments over representational fairness issues the masters should use and, at the core of Sandoval's reason for vetoing the Democratic maps, whether the masters must create majority-minority districts on behalf of Hispanic voters. That would set district lines to concentrate the power of Hispanic voters in several districts, essentially giving them a much better chance of winning office but in a limited number of districts. The Democratic proposal in contrast would spread Hispanic voters out across more districts, which they argue gives those voters a chance of electing more representatives.

Russell ordered both political parties and the Secretary of State's office to respond with any challenges or other issues in 20 days.

The three masters will be paid for their service, he ruled, and will have access to expert witnesses during the process.

Russell requested that the Legislative Counsel Bureau provide the team with two experts, Kathy Steinle and Brian Davie, to provide demographic information and help with the computer program that actually draws the maps.

Finally, Russell directed that all meetings of the special masters be open to the public.

The legal process was made necessary after lawmakers and the governor failed in the 2011 session to agree on redistricting maps for the coming decade.