SOS Miller protests redistricting changes

Secretary of State Ross Miller has filed a protest to the changes the Legislative Counsel requested in Judge Todd Russell's redistricting order.

Russell agreed to add language clarifying that current members of the Legislature can use the terms "re-elect" and "incumbent" in their campaigns even though the newly drawn maps have moved some of them to new or re-numbered districts.

State law generally allows the use of those terms only if an official has been elected rather than ap-pointed and is running in the same district with the same number.

Carson City Clerk/Recorder Alan Glover, one of three special masters appointed by Russell to draw the maps, said that language is normally included in the redistricting legislation every 10 years. He said it was discussed with Brenda Erdoes during the process of developing the new maps.

"It just didn't get into the order," he said. "There's no bill, so it has to be put in the order."

The court document filed by Miller's elections division, however, said LCB is "seeking preemptive declaratory relief regarding application of statutes when no parties to the action have raised the issue and such a ruling is not necessary in order to resolve the actual dispute in this litigation."

"This issue does not concern the official interests of the Legislature as a body; it only pertains to the private, personal interests of individuals who may conduct a campaign in the 2012 election cycle," according to the document drafted by Deputy Attorney General Kevin Benson.

He asks that Russell delete the amendment to his original order.