REDISTRICTING FUNDAMENTALS 2011
The Census & Redistricting Intro A. What is the Census? B. Results for the state of Arizona, Latino population in AZ/U.S. I. Federal Guidelines for Redistricting A. Equal Population B. Contiguous Boundaries C. Natural Boundaries D. Communities of Interest (Voting Rights Act, Section 2 & 5) II. Redistricting in Arizona A. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission B. AZ IRC Procedure, Timeline C. Competitiveness III. Advocating for your community A. A Map= location of your community B. Qualitative data= Anecdotes of your community story & shared experience C. Quantitative data= Your community in numbers & statistics D. Final points to keep in mind
The U.S. Census and its Importance to the Latino community The United States Constitutionrequires that a censusbe taken every ten years to determine how many people reside in the United States and its territories, regardless of their citizenship. The Census provides a count on the total population of the United States. The first census was taken in 1790, when there were nearly four million people living in our country. The most recent census taken on April 1, 2010 ("the 2010 Census") revealed that at least 308.7 million people now live in the United States, including at least 50.5 million Latinos. Growth among Arizona's Hispanic population from 2000 to 2010 was 46.3% (600,000), while growth among other groups was 17.3%. Of Arizona's 6.4 million residents, 1.9 million, or 29.7%, were Hispanic. Hispanics made up 25.3 percent of Arizona's population in the 2000 Census and 18.8 percent of the population in the 1990 Census. Arizona will get 1 new congressional district: 1 st time Latinos are the second largest population group in the U.S. (NALEO Educational Fund, 2010 Census) Redistricting:Redistricting is the process of redrawing district boundaries. The 2010 Census population data is used to redraw the geographical boundaries of districts from which we will elect our officials at the federal, state, and local level. These new districts will define our political representation for the next ten years.
Federal Funding:The number of people identified in the 2010 Census will be used to determine how much federal funding your state and local governments will receive during the next decade. Higher population totals translate into more dollars for hospitals, housing, schools, social services, and transportation to meet the needs of our communities. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the total federal aiddistributed to state and local governments in Fiscal Year 2009 was $552.1 billion. That amounts to an average of approximately $1,800 for each person in the United States.
I. Federal Guidelines for Redistricting Equal Population Equal Population/ One person, one vote:this requirement applies to allredistricting plans. Districts must be roughly equal in population. This federal requirement has been in effect since a series of United States Supreme Court decisions that began with Baker v. Carrin 1962. One person, one vote applies to all redistricting, including congressional districts, state legislative districts, districts to elect members of county governments, municipal districts, and administrative districts and districts for other forms of local governments. 2011 Equal Population for 9 Congressional Districts would be 710,224 for each District. 2011 Equal Population for 30 Legislative Districts would be 213,067 for each District. The following illustrates how districts can become unequally populated over time.
2. Contiguity: A requirement that a district be a single, unbroken shape. A district may be divided by a natural feature such as water, which allows districts that include islands to meet contiguity requirements. 3. Natural Boundaries: Consideration for Natural Boundaries. Examples: Mountains, Rivers, Coastlines, etc. Point Contiguity
Compactness:A term used to describe a district's shape. There is no single accepted definition of what qualifies as a "compact" district. However, the compactness inquiry may focus on whether a district is irregularly shaped either by area or by the dispersion of population. Images on the left show one map that is not very compact and another that is.
4. Communities of Interest (Voting Rights Act, Section 2 & 5) The Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibits racial discrimination in voting practices in all federal, state, and local elections. Congress has amended the Act and reauthorized the Act's temporary provisions five times, most recently in 2006. Redistricting is a change in election law because it changes districts for the purpose of elections. All redistricting plans must comply with the federal Voting Rights Act. Specifically, there are two provisions of the Voting Rights Act that apply to redistricting. Section 2:Section 2 of the Voting Rights Actis a permanent provision of the Act. It is the Act's general non-discrimination provision. Section 2 prohibits use of any voting qualification or standard, practice or procedure affecting voting (such as redistricting) that results in a denial or limitation on voting because of a voter's race or ethnicity. Section 2 applies nationwide and applies to all redistricting, including congressional, legislative, and local government districts. Section 2 provides that a violation is established if the totality of the circumstances shows that a redistricting plan results in districts in which a racial or ethnic group of voters, including Latinos, "have less opportunity than other members of the electorate to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice." One of the circumstances that can be considered is the extent to which members of the underrepresented group, such as Latinos, have been elected to office. The United States Supreme Courthas described other evidence necessary to meet that standard. Additional factors, such as the history of discrimination against the underrepresented group and other examples of ways in which underrepresented voters have been excluded from the economic, political, and social life of a community, also are considered.
Section 5.That means that all redistricting plans used in those states, including congressional, legislative, and local redistricting plans, must be preclearedbefore they can be implemented. The Justice Department's 2002 objection to Arizona's state legislative redistricting plan is a good example for how Section 5 helps ensure that Latinos receive fair representation and equal participation in elections. Nine States in the United States must have pre-clearance by the DOJ before their maps can be implemented:
Communities of Interest (Pt. 2) A Community of Interest (COI) is a neighborhood or community that would benefit from being maintained in a single district because of shared interests, views, or characteristics. A community of interest is a community of common interest. Members of the Latino community often share similar demographic, economic or social characteristics.as a result, preservation of communities of interest can be critical for the Latino community to secure fair representation under a redistricting plan. However, in defining a community of interest, we need to look beyond race. Latinos are a diverse group with a rich ancestry from Mexican, Salvadoran, Puerto Rican, Dominican, Columbian, Chilean, and much more.
The picture below is an example of how district lines can separate or unify a community. Graphic 1: Before Redistricting Graphic 2: After Redistricting Central American In this example, the colored figures represent a diverse Central American community. This Central American community shares common a income level, a common education level, their family size is about the same, and they attend the same social and cultural celebrations. The Central American community in this jurisdiction of four districts comprise one quarter of the total population. Most Central Americans reside in the same neighborhood, which is shown in the center of the jurisdiction. However, the redistricting plan has divided the Central American community between all four districts. Central Americans make up only ¼ of the population in each of the four districts. As a result, they may not have an opportunity to elect their candidates of choice. Having the opportunity to elect a candidate of your choice increases the probability that that candidate once elected will represent your community interests in the governing body they are elected to. Additionally, your elected represented will advocate to bring resources that reflect your community needs and priorities. On the other hand, the picture to the right depicts how the Central American community in this region can achieve fair representation if their community of interest is kept together. In this example, the Central American community now makes up ¾ of the population in one district. That will likely provide this community with an opportunity to elect one out of the four representatives. Therefore, preserving the community of interest has provided the Central American community in this region with an equal opportunity to elect their candidates of choice.
Packingis a practice used in redistricting to disenfranchise specific populations voting power. For instance, redistricting could pack most voters of one ethnicity or political party in a geography into one district, allowing for all the surrounding districts to be controlled by a different ethnicity or party. Other Issues Facing Communities of Interest Cracking is a practice used in redistricting to disenfranchise specific populations voting power. For instance, redistricting could crack voters of one ethnicity or political party in a geography into several different districts, thereby diluting that group s voting power. CA-District 28 resulted in cracking the Latino vote
Voting Dilution For example, packing can occur when two districts are created with 90% African- American population in both. This kind of packing might be found to violate Section 2 when three African-American majority districts could be drawn if the African- American population was spread out more evenly across three districts instead of being unnecessarily concentrated in two districts. Conversely, crackingcan occur if two districts are created that have 35% Latino population in each. Such splitting could be found to violate Section 2 if, for example, it were possible to place the Latino population into a single district where they would form a majority and could have a better opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice. Both packingand cracking are illustrative of the kind of actions that can dilute the minority group s vote and deny them an equal opportunity to elect candidates of their choice. Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act can be used either to advocate for or litigate to obtain a more reasonable and fairly drawn plan that better reflects the voting strength of minority voters in a particular area. Vote dilution most commonly occurs when those who draw redistricting plans compress minority communities into a small number of districts (packing) or spread them thinly into a large number of districts (cracking, fracturing, or splitting).
II. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission Schedule AZ Independent Redistricting Commission adopted in 2000, with the passage of Proposition 106. Mission:The Independent Redistricting Commission's mission is to administer the fair and balanced redistricting of the Congressional and Legislative districts for the State of Arizona. http://www.azredistricting.org/ TIMELINE (Remaining): Mapmaking firm works on grid, July 2011 1 st Draft map is presented, Aug. 2011, 2 nd Draft map is presented, Sept. 2011 Public Comments, 1 st Rd. Week of July 18 th Aug. 2011, 2 nd Rd. Sept.-Oct. 2011 Submission of maps to DOJ, Oct. 31st 2011
Competition and Partisanship: Typically, state and local jurisdictions that require competitiveness prohibit undue favoritism of one party over another. Tony Sissonshas described Arizona's requirement for competitive districts in the following way: "A competitive district is one in which candidates of any political party stand a reasonable chance of winning if they can appeal to more voters than contestants of other parties.
Participate in the Process! Be proactive and get your community of in terest into early maps. Connect with civil ri ghts groups drafting maps to include your c ommunity. Participate in early meetings of the Commis sion Bring copies of your written testimony for t he public hearings Your community coalition should expect to participate at all hearings. By being present throughout the proce ss, your community can quickly respond to changes made and support decisions that promote your community of interest. If given a short time frame to present testimony divide sections among your coali tion.
III. Advocating for your Community A community of interest testimony should give the redistricting entity a clear picture that your community shares too many common traits and characteristics to be divided and placed in different districts. Each community is unique so be creative and comprehensive in describing your community of interest. For the purposes of redistricting we need to be specific about the diversity of our com munities. A community of interest must be defined beyond race and ethnicity alone. Characteristics for defining a community of interest There is no single definition for identifying your community of interest. In defining your community of interest be as comprehensiveas possible and include both qualitativeand quantitative data to show how your community shares many common characteristics.
Examples of quantitative data (your community numbers) Income Renter vs. home owners Language Education Transportation routes Family size Graduation rates Ancestry Industry Examples of qualitative data (your community story): Shared newspaper circulation Experience accessing resources Common business/shopping district Common sports leagues Annual festivals/celebrations Shared school district
1. A map = location of your community Identify community geography and provide a map- What are your boundaries: North? South? East? West? Are you focusing on a neighborhood? city? region? Are there defining features such as major highways, rivers, coastal, urban? You should be able to draw your community on a map. Try to be as exact as possible i n drawing boundaries. Thomas Guide, Google Maps, Mapquest 2. Qualitative data = Anecdotes of your community story and shared experience Examples: Common lifestyle trends of the community, where does everyone go shopping, congregate socially or for religious purposes, largest employers, etc 3. Quantitative Demographic Data = Your community in numbers and statistics Examples: Graduation rates, median household income, access to technology, housing rat es, language isolation etc. Collect data to demonstrate demography US Census http://2010.census.gov/2010census/data/ 4. Relation to communities around you =Identify which communities are most similar to you and most different from you a. Share which communities around share your experience or social and economic characteristics b. Share with the commission which communities are around you
Building a strong community of interest testimony The strongest arguments for communities of interestcontain bothqualitative and quantitative components. There are no clearrules on what is neededto define a communities of interest so be comprehensive in your approach Prepare in advance Prepare and coordinateyour testimonyinadvanceofpublic hearings. Provide writtenand verbaltestimony. Present map with your community of interest boundaries. Prepare your data. Have a common message Many people saying acommonmessage willadd strength to yourgoal of keeping your community together. Organize a large grouptoshow up. Being in the room is always a stronger message than sending in your testimony. A large group helps you cover the entire process and prevent meeting fatigue.