Topeka ? The Kansas House on Friday gave preliminary approval to a political map that would not only split Lawrence between two congressional districts, but also split a handful of voting precincts.

“This sets a very bad precedent,” said Rep. Troy Findley, D-Lawrence.

Lawrence and most of Douglas County are currently in the 3rd Congressional District, along with the Kansas City metropolitan area.

Under the new proposal, Lawrence would be divided along Iowa Street, placing west Lawrence in the 2nd District and east Lawrence, including Kansas University, in the 3rd District.

Seven voting precincts in Douglas County, including five in Lawrence, would be split between the 2nd and 3rd districts, according to the Kansas Legislative Research Department.

Douglas County Clerk Patty Jaimes said she was worried dividing precincts would confuse voters.

“I have no idea what they are doing. I’m not sure they do either,” Jaimes said of House members pushing the proposal.

The House advanced the measure 69-51 for a final vote scheduled Monday.

‘Not a very good map’

The vote was mostly along partisan lines, with Republicans supporting the split of Lawrence and Democrats opposing it, although Republican legislators representing portions of Douglas County voted against the measure that won House approval.

Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, said the sliver of Lawrence roped into the 3rd District looked like “Pinocchio’s nose or a phallic symbol. In any case, it is not a very good map.”

Sloan said Lawrence and Douglas County should be kept together in the same district.

Lawmakers have to redraw political boundaries every 10 years to accommodate population changes recorded in the national census. The process usually becomes a partisan brawl with the party in power trying to adjust the boundaries to their political advantage.

That is what Democrats claimed the Republicans, who hold significant majorities in the Legislature, were doing to Lawrence, which is currently represented by Dennis Moore, the lone Democrat in the Kansas congressional delegation.

Rep. Bruce Larkin, D-Baileyville, said the Republican-endorsed split of Lawrence would “reduce Dennis Moore’s influence by taking a large part of Douglas County away from him.”

Splitting Johnson County

But Rep. Mike O’Neal, R-Hutchinson, sponsor of the redistricting proposal, said Lawrence can’t fit anymore in the fast-growing 3rd District. Congressional districts have to be as even as possible in population.

Democrats argued that Lawrence could fit into the 3rd District, if the map split Johnson County. Splitting a county is more acceptable if it means cities can be kept intact, they argued.

But O’Neal disagreed, saying Johnson County is the current and future anchor of the 3rd District and should be kept intact.

“Lawrence is not going to be in the 3rd District, long term,” he said.

Findley’s amendment to keep Lawrence in the 3rd was defeated 45-74.

Attempts to place Lawrence wholly in the 2nd District also were defeated by Republicans who said putting Lawrence in the 2nd would force too many adjustments in other districts.

If the proposed map were to become law, seven precincts in Douglas County would be split between the 2nd and 3rd districts. Currently, there are no split precincts anywhere in the state.

In the county, the split precincts would be East Wakarusa and South Eudora.

In Lawrence, they are, Ward 1, Precinct 1; Ward 2, Precinct 10; Ward 3, Precinct 6; Ward 4, Precinct 2 and Ward 4, Precinct 5.

Jaimes said dividing the precincts could produce problems on election day.

“We’ll have to have different types of ballots at voting places. That could get confusing. We may get the wrong type of ballot handed to the wrong person,” she said.

If the House plan is adopted Monday, it will go to the Senate for consideration.

A Senate committee has approved a plan that would place Lawrence in the 2nd District, but the full Senate has not considered it because that proposal is opposed by Senate leaders.