Montana redistricting commission advances two map proposals

HELENA (AP) — Montana's redistricting commission has honed in on two maps dividing the state into two congressional districts, after the commission's nonpartisan chair said she disapproved of all nine maps proposed earlier this month by the two Republican and two Democratic commissioners.

Commission Chair Maylinn Smith, who was appointed to the commission by the state's Supreme Court, said during a commission meeting on Thursday that she found various flaws in previously proposed maps, including that they unnecessarily divided counties and failed to take into consideration the distribution of Montana's Native American population between the districts...