ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Alaska Supreme Court ruled Friday that a map of state Senate districts in Anchorage “constituted an unconstitutional political gerrymander violating equal protection under the Alaska Constitution.”
In a combined summary decision, the court said it is sending the issue back to a lower court that previously instructed the state’s five-person redistricting board to redraw the Senate map or explain why it is impossible to do so.
Alaska’s Senate districts are each made of two House districts. In November, members of the redistricting board linked each of Eagle River’s House districts with districts elsewhere in Anchorage. This resulted in two Republican-leaning Senate seats and accusations of political gerrymandering by the three Republican-appointed members of the redistricting board.
