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PHOENIX — Two former lawmakers have scrapped plans to ask voters to revamp how the state's congressional and legislative districts are crafted.

Ken Clark, a Democrat, and Roberta Voss, a Republican, stopped gathering signatures for their initiative drive, which would have forced the creation of more politically competitive districts. These are districts where there are a relatively equal number of registered Democrats and Republicans.

But Voss said they haven't given up on the underlying goal. Instead, she said, they hope to reach a compromise deal with others who now oppose their measure. That, she said, could be placed before voters in 2010.

The decision already has had one effect: Current state Rep. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, said he will drop his plan to put a competing measure on the ballot this November.

Central to the question is what factors should be considered when drawing district lines.

A 2000 ballot measure created a five-member commission to create the 30 legislative districts and eight congressional districts.

That voter-approved measure required consideration of several factors, ranging from complying with federal voting-rights laws to protecting "communities of interest."

It also said that, if possible, the commission should create politically competitive districts.

Based on that, the commission created a handful of competitive legislative districts.

The initiative would have made creation of competitive districts the top priority, something Clark said could have created 11 competitive legislative districts.

That plan annoyed Paton, who said meeting that goal could result in district lines that split communities.

His measure sought to keep the current priorities — leaving competitiveness last — along with changing how members of the Independent Redistricting Commission are elected. Under Paton's plan, members would be elected by congressional district rather than handpicked by politicians, so that rural interests would not be ignored.

Paton got the House to vote to put his alternative on the ballot; the Senate has yet to act.

Voss said she believes a compromise might be reached, making creation of politically competitive districts more important than it is now but not doing it at the expense of splitting communities.