March 11, 2021 3:20 a.m.

On Wednesday, Senate President Peter Courtney and House Speaker Tina Kotek said they are seeking relief from the Oregon Supreme Court to preserve the Legislative Assembly’s ability to fulfill its constitutional duty to conduct redistricting.

A release from the two leaders said this year, the federal Census data that state legislatures rely on to redistrict congressional and state legislative seats will not be available until the end of September. That’s six months later than usual and well past the deadlines set by the Oregon Constitution.

The release said the Presiding Officers filed a “petition of mandamus” asking the Court to grant the Legislature three months to attempt redistricting once the state receives the Census data. They are also asking the Court to allow the Legislative Assembly to conduct redistricting outside of a regular session.

The release said in February, the bipartisan leaders of the Oregon Legislature’s redistricting committees requested that the branch explore potential legal options to extend its timeline for redistricting. In response, the Joint Committee on Legislative Counsel voted unanimously to appoint outside counsel to explore all options to ensure that the Legislature can fulfill its constitutional duty to rebalance the population of Oregon’s electoral districts.