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Page Number: 6

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ARIZONA STATE LEGISLATURE v. ARIZONA 
INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMM’N
 
Opinion of the Court 

In  2000,  Arizona  voters  adopted  an  initiative,  Proposi­
tion 106, aimed at “ending the practice of gerrymandering 
and  improving  voter  and  candidate  participation  in  elec­
tions.”  App. 50.  Proposition 106 amended Arizona’s Con­
stitution  to  remove  redistricting  authority  from  the  Ari- 
zona Legislature and vest that authority in an independent 
commission,  the  Arizona  Independent  Redistricting  Com­
mission  (AIRC  or  Commission).    After  the  2010  census, 
as  after  the  2000  census,  the  AIRC  adopted  redistrict- 
ing  maps  for  congressional  as  well  as  state  legislative 
districts. 

The  Arizona  Legislature  challenged  the  map  the  Com­
mission  adopted  in  January  2012  for  congressional  dis­
tricts.  Recognizing that the voters could control redistrict­
ing  for  state  legislators,  Brief  for  Appellant  42,  47;  Tr.  of 
Oral  Arg.  3–4,  the  Arizona  Legislature  sued  the  AIRC  in
federal  court  seeking  a  declaration  that  the  Commission
and  its  map  for  congressional  districts  violated  the  “Elec­
tions  Clause”  of  the  U. S.  Constitution.    That  Clause, 
critical to the resolution of this case, provides: 

“The  Times,  Places  and  Manner  of  holding  Elections 
for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed 
in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Con­
gress  may  at  any  time  by  Law  make  or  alter  such
Regulations . . . .”  Art. I, §4, cl. 1. 

The  Arizona  Legislature’s  complaint  alleged  that  “[t]he
word  ‘Legislature’  in  the  Elections  Clause  means  [specifi­
cally  and  only]  the  representative  body  which  makes  the 
laws of the people,” App. 21, ¶37; so read, the Legislature 
urges,  the  Clause  precludes  resort  to  an  independent 
commission, created by initiative, to accomplish redistrict­
ing.  The  AIRC  responded  that,  for  Elections  Clause  pur­
poses,  “the  Legislature”  is  not  confined  to  the  elected
representatives;  rather,  the  term  encompasses  all  legisla­
tive authority conferred by the State Constitution, includ­