SACRAMENTO, Calif .– As the California Citizens Redistricting Commission prepares to decide on final legislative maps, conservation groups are calling on communities united by environmental concerns to stay together.
The idea is to give voters more influence over who has the power to solve problems like industrial air pollution, oil spills, drought or forest fires.
Samuel Sukaton, California Environmental Voters Educational Fund’s redistribution coordinator, noted that his organization recently detailed its concerns in a letter to the commission.
“One of the things we are working on are communities that depend on specific environmental characteristics, be it public land, major environmental justice concerns, like oil refineries,” explained Sukaton. “They should be kept with these resources so that they can determine, by electing their government representatives, what will be done with this region.”
For example, The EnviroVoters Education Fund wants the districts on the north coast to keep Native American reservations intact and include the coastal region. They argued that the initial maps, which combine the communities of the Sierras with towns in the San Joaquin Valley, create districts of disparate interests and make it more difficult to draw predominantly Latin American districts at the bottom of the valley.
Sukaton stressed that the maps drawn by the non-partisan commission will shape California’s direction for the next decade.
“California, with the independent commission, with public testimony, has this unique and powerful opportunity to deal with two of the great crises of our time: inequality and the climate crisis,” Sukaton argued. “And more democracy is the answer to both.”
The commission released draft maps a few weeks ago and is collecting public comment online and in a series of meetings that take place almost daily. A final vote is expected to take place on December 24.
Disclosure: California Environmental Voters (EnviroVoters) contributes to our civic engagement, climate change / air quality, environment and environmental justice reporting fund. If you would like to help support the news in the public interest, click here.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – With an ongoing litigation contesting recently passed Ohio legislative maps, a new project humanizes the issues in the redistribution process.
The Ohio Supreme Court heard arguments last week from three groups challenging the new Ohio House and Senate district maps as unconstitutional for violating anti-gerrymandering requirements.
Jeniece Brock, director of policy and advocacy for the Ohio Organizing Collaborative and vice-chair of the Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission, one of the complainants, argued that the cards diluted voter power in immigrant communities and communities of color.
“I’ve seen the redistribution ‘wrap and crack’ our black and brown communities to dilute our voices,†Brock said. “And together we demand that we have the opportunity to significantly influence the political process through redistribution.”
The cards were approved 5-2 across party lines, and Republicans countered that there is no evidence they are unconstitutional.
Black and Muslim Ohioians who feel they are being denied fair representation in state government due to gerrymandering share their concerns about a new “Democracy Warriors Story Bank” online.
Brock lives in Summit County, the fourth most populous county in Ohio. She pointed out that gerrymandering has split into four among members of Congress.
“For the past ten years, none of them have resided in Summit County,†Brock noted. “It is unfair for the people of Summit County not to have one person who can stand up for the things that are important to you and your community.”
Kathay Feng, National Director of Redistribution of Common Cause, said that once the voting cards reach the courts, it becomes more difficult for citizens to influence the process. Speaking at a redistribution seminar, she recommended that the best way to influence the process is through a ballot.
“In some states where there are judicial elections, where there is a way to influence the judges who are chosen, you have to make sure that there is a huge amount of voter education,” Feng advised. .
Ohio Supreme Court justices are elected for a six-year term. The tribunal is currently made up of four Republicans and three Democrats. Three Republican judges have terms expiring in 2022.
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MANDAN, ND – The North Dakota redistribution is now complete, but Native American voter advocates say there is plenty to do by the next time district maps are drawn, in 2031. They hope so build on a key achievement in the most recent district boundary change.
This fall, state lawmakers approved new maps that divide the House districts for the Fort Berthold and Turtle Mountain Indian reservations.
Nicole Donaghy, executive director of the North Dakota Native Vote nonprofit, said she would like to see the same approach for all tribal communities. And over the next decade, she said they will continue to push for reserve redistribution hearings when lawmakers reconsider the matter.
“We have to be better prepared; we have to find a way to make it inclusive,” said Donaghy. “We have to include all the capabilities we have to include technology in the process, and that way we create fairness.”
This fall, public hearings included online participation, but tribal advocates argued that it may be more difficult to access the technology in reservations. In addition to face-to-face meetings, they hope that viable solutions for virtual engagement can be found.
As for the new divided districts, Donaghy stressed that they open the door to election by communities of lawmakers who have the best interests of their constituents at heart.
“The benefits of that are having representation,†Donaghy argued. “It attracts the interest of the communities. You know, voter turnout will increase, and so a lot depends on who represents us.”
Donaghy added that his group will continue its civic engagement on reservations to show how such issues affect tribal members.
“So we show them through personalized content,†Donaghy said. “If we work at Standing Rock, we will have similar content for Standing Rock.”
Currently, only 1% of the North Dakota legislature is made up of lawmakers who identify as Native Americans.
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DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa has passed new legislative and legislative limits now that the redistribution is complete. Despite its reputation as an independent process, some mapping experts question whether the state has done enough to include the voices of BIPOC.
Iowa’s well-documented approach of using non-partisan legislative staff to manage political map changes has garnered national attention for some time now.
But Doug Spencer – University of Colorado-Boulder law professor and director of the All About Redistricting website – said that when you take a close look at the process, you can find red flags.
This includes limited public hearings during the recently completed redistribution cycle.
“Three Zoom meetings over two days,†Spencer said. “And so that limits the types of voices that can be heard and listened to and have an impact.”
In states where public access concerns have been raised, supporters of the process have cited a shorter window this time around due to the backlog of census data. However, the Iowa guidelines, written before the pandemic, call for a minimum of three hearings.
In 2011, only four were scheduled. As for the new cards, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds has said they will fairly and accurately represent all citizens of Iowa over the next decade.
But Spencer wondered if Iowa’s independent process produced elected officials who provide the best representation for all communities. Even with a small BIPOC population, he noted that the state Senate was entirely white.
“No matter how small the minority population is, it is still under-represented in the state legislature,†Spencer said.
And the latest census figures show the state is diversifying, with the Latin American population reaching nearly 7% and the black population exceeding 4%.
Ahead of the next round of redistribution in ten years, Spencer urged the state to be more proactive to ensure all voices are heard. This would include greater awareness of census participation a few years before the next count, as well as more diverse hiring among the agencies involved in the redistribution.
He said planting those seeds early could make Iowa more receptive to BIPOC communities when the process resumes.
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