The Republican Conspiracy Against the AIRC and the Voters of Arizona

After all that has gone on in the last eleven months, especially the last week, does anyone doubt that there is has been a conspiracy (of possibly criminal magnitude) by the Republican Party in Arizona in general and Republican elected officials specifically thwart the will of the voters?  Does anyone doubt that in their zeal to protect the Republican super-majority in the Arizona Legislature that these Republicans conspired to destroy the Arizona INDEPENDENT Redistricting Commission (AIRC) by lodging false claims against the AIRC’s non-Republican members?

Of course, with Attorney General Tom Horne having already launched a witch hunt investigation into the AIRC, don’t look for him to hold his fellow Republicans accountable.  Don’t look to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate this conspiracy either.  With A.G. Holder under fire from Congressional Republicans on many different fronts, he will wimp out of doing what is right to protect himself.

So, that leaves the Arizona voters to fix the mistakes they made in 2000 when they voted to create the AIRC.  In order to take the Legislature completely out of the redistricting process, I propose the following changes to the law constitutional amendment that created the AIRC:

1.  Expand the AIRC from five to nine with three registered Democrats, three registered Republicans and three registered independents to better reflect the party registration percentages of the state.

2.  All members are chosen randomly from a pool of eligible registered voters whom have voluntarily placed themselves into the pool.  The members will be chosen during a live broadcast.

3.  No person may be considered eligible for the pool if they have changed their registered party affiliation within the last three general election cycles.

4.  No person may be considered eligible for the pool if they have held a post in any political party within the last three general election cycles.

5.  The creation of an independent AIRC Inspector General to field and investigate all complaints made against the AIRC and its members.  The Inspector General shall upon finding clear evidence of a law or laws being broken by the AIRC and/or its members bring the matter before the State Supreme Court for prompt adjudication.

I truly feel that if the voters were to approve all five of these recommendations, the AIRC can truly be independent of the Legislature and the political establishment.  Without these recommendations being approved, the voters will forever be powerless against the manipulations and conspiracies of the party in power.  In this case, it is the Republican Party.