Redistricting and the Census Justin Levitt July 16, 2009
May 09, 2015
Redistricting and the Census
Justin Levitt
July 16, 2009
The Brennan Center and redistrictingBased at NYU, but work nationwide
Think tank, advocacy group, law firm
• Study of redistricting practices and reform initiatives
• Analysis of proposals
• Testimony before decisionmakers
• Consulting for advocates
• Advocacy and publication
The Midwest Democracy NetworkAlliance of political reform advocates
5 Midwest states
• Public education
• Civic organization training
• Policy formulation
• Public advocacy and pressure for reform
Today’s conversation
• What?
• Why?
• When?
• Who?
• Where?
• How?
Today’s conversation
• What?
• Why?
• When?
• Who?
• Where?
• How?
What is “redistricting”?
• Every 10 years (at least), after the census
• Congress, state legislature, many local legislatures
• Sorts voters into groups, distributes political power, affects policy priorities
Downtown Minneapolis
Is this a good district?
Is this a good district?
You can’t know if a district is “good,” unless you know what it’s trying to achieve
Today’s conversation
• What?
• Why?
• When?
• Who?
• Where?
• How?
Why does redistricting matter?
• Politicians choosing their voters• Eliminating incumbents or
challengers
• Diluting minority votes• Splitting up communities
Hakeem
Jeffries’
house
•
Today’s conversation
• What?
• Why?
• When?
• Who?
• Where?
• How?
Key redistricting dates
April 1, 2010 ―
December 31, 2010―
January 10, 2011 ―
April 1, 2011 ―
End of session 2011―
Census Day
Census count to President
Apportionment to U.S. House
Redistricting data to states
Most redistricting complete
Today’s conversation
• What?
• Why?
• When?
• Who?
• Where?
• How?
Who draws the lines
In most states, the legislature has primary control
• State legislative districts: 37 states
• Congressional districts: 38 states(and 7 states with 1 Congressional district)
Other redistricting institutions
State legislative districts
Congressional
districts
AdvisoryBackup
Primary control in the legislature
Primary control outside legislature
Today’s conversation
• What?
• Why?
• When?
• Who?
• Where?
• How?
Start with federal protectionsEqual population – one person, one vote
• Congress: as equal as possible
• State legislature: ~10% spread if good reason
• section 2: draw majority-minority districts to
avoid dilution
• section 5: preclear to ensure that minority
voters aren’t made worse off
• otherwise: can consider race, but race can’t “predominate” unless really good
reason
CrackingPacking
Federal protectionsRace – Voting Rights Act and the
Constitution
The Voting Rights Act and beyond
After federal law, add state limitations
• Contiguity
• Political boundaries
• Compactness
• Communities of interest
• Partisanship/competition
• Nesting
State leg.Congress
45 14
38 13
34 13
19 8
9 6
14 (+3) n/a
Today’s conversation
• What?
• Why?
• When?
• Who?
• Where?
• How?
Influencing the processTangible next steps
• Census
• Redistricting
Influencing the census
• Educate your community
• Recruit census takers
• Become a census partner
• Staff a help center
• Fight the “boycott”
• Focus on “hard to count” areas
2000 population in hard-to-count areas
Source: Election Data Services
2000 Denver hard-to-count areas
Source: Community Research Institute, Dorothy A. Johnson Center for
Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership, Grand
Valley State U.
Influencing redistricting (short-term)
• Educate your community
• Educate the media and drive the story
• Identify and map community boundaries
• Attend hearings
• Present alternative maps
Mapping community boundaries
Communities of interest• Social interests• Cultural interests• Racial / ethnic interests• Economic / trade interests • Geographic interests• Communication and
transportation networks• Media markets• Urban and rural interests• Occupations and lifestyles
Influencing redistricting (long-term)
• Alternative voting systems- Cumulative voting- Choice voting
• Alternative redistricting entities- Independent commissions- Accountability seats
Independent commissions
• This is not about taking politics out of redistricting
• It’s about limiting the role of self-dealing politicians
• Why should one of the game’s players also be the referee?
• Who chooses the commissioners?
• How to ensure real diversity?
• Which criteria are most important?
• How to reconcile competing criteria?
• How to get the right discretion?
Independent commissions
• Meaningful independence
• Meaningful diversity
• Meaningful guidance
• Meaningful transparency
Still need careful design
Preparing for long-term change
• Ballot initiatives
• Legislative action
- Substantial public support- Substantial funding- Bipartisan sponsorship- Support of minority communities
Source: Initiative & Referendum Institute, University of Southern California
- Substantial public support- Bipartisan sponsorship- Support of minority communities
Building public support
• Educate the media
• Train community leadership
• Secure validation from trusted elders
• Model best practices (model commission)
• Justin LevittBrennan Center for Justicewww.brennancenter.org
• Midwest Democracy Networkwww.midwestdemocracynetwork.org
Booth 204 at the Expo, here at the Summit
Further information