UPDATE 2/27/12 @ 2:45 p.m.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) -- Candidates have been dropping off the ballot in the wake of last week's Kentucky Supreme Court decision tossing out newly drawn legislative districts.
Justices ruled Friday that legislative candidates had to run in decade-old legislative districts. The ruling disqualified some candidates because of residency requirements. They lived in the newly drawn districts, not the old ones.
Chief Justice John D. Minton said newly drawn legislative districts were unconstitutional and that lawmakers will have to operate under the old districts until more balanced boundaries are drawn.
Redistricting occurs every 10 years to account for population shifts reported in the U.S. Census. It's an effort to ensure that lawmakers represent roughly the same number of people.
Unhappy with the new districts, House Republicans filed a lawsuit in January.
Chief Justice John D. Minton issued the unanimous ruling Friday afternoon in a legislative redistricting case that has been speeding through the legal process.
Justices heard oral arguments in the lawsuit Friday morning, only a month after the original lawsuit was filed, and only hours before the ruling.
Franklin County Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd ruled earlier this month that newly drawn legislative districts are out of balance and must be redrawn to comply with the "one person, one vote" mandate in federal and state law. Challenges were quickly taken to the Kentucky Court of Appeals and then to the Supreme Court.
Redistricting occurs every 10 years to account for population changes reported in the U.S. Census.
Justices heard oral arguments in the case Friday, only a month after the lawsuit was initially filed. Their ruling could come within days.
Franklin County Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd ruled last week that newly drawn legislative districts are out of balance and needed to be redrawn to comply with the "one person, one vote" mandate in federal and state law. Challenges were quickly taken to the Kentucky Court of Appeals and then to the Supreme Court where lawyers for opposing sides asked justices to uphold or reverse the trial court.
Redistricting occurs every 10 years to account for population changes reported in the U.S. Census.
The House voted 58 to 26 Friday afternoon to approve a plan that shifts geographic boundaries to balance population changes. The Senate passed it 29 to 7 earlier in the day.
The plan bolsters the Democrats' hold on the 6th Congressional District represented by U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler. Republican state Sen. Alice Forgy Kerr of Lexington called the proposal the "Ben Chandler Lifetime Employment Act."
The plan also would allow U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers to keep some key GOP counties in the 5th District.
Lexington attorney Scott White said he will now drop the lawsuit he filed Thursday on behalf of three Lexington resident.
Franklin County Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd made that ruling Tuesday afternoon in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of newly redrawn district boundaries.
Shepherd also set Friday as a new deadline for legislative candidates to file to run in this year's elections.
House Republicans unhappy with the outcome of the legislative redistricting battle filed a lawsuit in January challenging the constitutionality of newly drawn boundaries, claiming they favor Democrats. A Senate Democrat displaced in the redistricting process joined the lawsuit, which contends that the new legislative districts could have been better balanced by population and that they could have been drawn in a way would have required fewer splits in counties and precincts.
House Speaker Greg Stumbo said the plan is expected to pass the legislature in coming days.
he once-a-decade chore of redrawing congressional districts has been slow in coming for the Republican-controlled Senate and Democratic-dominated House.
Always a hot issue, redistricting occurs every 10 years to account for population changes reported in the U.S. Census. The latest count found that the state's overall population grew from 4 million to 4.3 million from 2000 to 2010. Populations of rural areas in eastern and western Kentucky declined sharply while urban centers grew.
Lawmakers have to pass a plan that puts an equal number of people in each of the state's districts.
Franklin County Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd issued a temporary restraining order on Tuesday, hours before the original deadlines for legislative hopefuls to file candidacy papers.
Republicans hit hard in a contentious redistricting battle filed a lawsuit last week challenging the constitutionality of newly drawn legislative boundaries that they claim favor Democrats.
The lone Democrat who was redistricted out of her elected position joined the lawsuit.
The lawsuit contends that the new legislative districts could have been better balanced by population and that they could have been drawn in a way would have required fewer splits in counties and precincts.
House GOP floor leader Jeff Hoover was accompanied by a contingent of other lawmakers at Franklin County Circuit Court when the challenge was filed Thursday morning.
They are asking for an injunction to delay implementing the measure and ask that next Tuesday's election filing deadline be postponed until the matter is resolved.
The Democratic-controlled House voted largely along party lines Jan. 12 to redraw boundaries in a way that sets up Republican vs. Republican races in three House districts.
Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear signed the measure into law last week.
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