Republican Secretary of State Mark Martin, still trying hard to get a piece of a legislative redistricting process controlled by the two Democratic members of the three-person Board of Apportionment, has a modest proposal.

To date, public hearings on redistricting have been conducted by the hired staff. Martin proposes the big shots conduct the hearing at least once. He proposes that the king and crown prince of the undertaking — the Democratic members, Gov. Mike Beebe and Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, — join him for a public hearing July 25.

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“This would allow the public to talk directly to those who have a vote,” Martin said in a letter. He also wants only maps or amendments to maps published by July 27 be allowed to go to a final vote.

Martin’s letter is on the jump.

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UPDATE: Despite repeated requests, the attorney general’s office offered no response.

Gov. Beebe’s spokesman said the governor would NOT attend the July 25 meeting because “he thought his presence would be counter-productive. The hearings so far have been successful because they’ve been about the maps, not about the men.” The governor has confidence in staff members who’ve been attending the meetings and briefing the governor afterward, spokesman Grant Tennille said. He added that the governor has been getting letters, phone calls and emals for weeks. “Their messages are being heard,” he said.

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As for an arbitrary two-day closeout on changes, the governor said if the process is to be completed by the end of July, the board has to preserve flexibility to make changes. Remember the legislature? Remember when someone discovered a mapping error that had to be corrected the final day of voting? Why foreclose the ability to make such a change by an arbitrary agreement on an early deadline on changes?

BOTTOM LINE: See your ploy and raise you, Mark.

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