Redistricting Trial Concludes

The fate of political boundaries in Kansas is now in the hands of three federal judges who will digest two days of testimony and draw new maps.

Attorneys for elected officials, business leaders and residents completed closing arguments Wednesday in the trial over redistricting.

The judges gave no hint how they would draw the boundaries, but did suggest they would be holding themselves to a higher standard for population deviation among the districts.

Evidence presented at the trial showed that courts have traditionally deviated from optimum district sizes by plus or minus 2 percent of the ideal population.

Redistricting was handed to the federal court because Kansas lawmakers failed to approve new maps for legislative, State Board of Education and U.S. House districts.