by Diane Dimperio
Published November 12, 2021
This article is Part 4 of a series. Information covered in the prior units is not included in this article. Go to our Florida Redistricting 2022 webpage to see all of the articles.
Redistricting 2022 has major political ramifications for individual politicians, the state of Florida, and the nation. The new state and federal legislative seats may determine the partisan balance of power for the next decade in the Florida Legislature and the U.S. Congress.
Laws Governing State and Congressional Redistricting
Citizen Input
Issues of Interest
Prison Gerrymandering
Current Status
What You Can Do
Update on Local Redistricting
References
Laws Governing State and Congressional Redistricting
Legislative committees responsible for Florida and Congressional redistricting have just begun, and the process is already beset by controversy. Before describing some of the issues you will want to know about, let’s take a few minutes to review some of the relevant laws.
In Florida, state and Congressional redistricting must follow three sets of rules. They are found in the U.S. Constitution, the Federal Voting Rights Act (FVRA), and the Florida Constitution.
The U.S. Constitution requires all Congressional districts be exactly equal, i.e., no more than 1 person difference.
The FVRA, passed at the height of the Civil Rights Movement in 1965, is designed to prevent voter discrimination experienced by people of color. Although the 15th Amendment guarantees the right to vote cannot be abridged “on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude,” the FVRA allows voters to seek judicial relief if they believe that a state or local government has denied or limited their voting rights based on race, color, or membership in a language minority group.
The pursuit of racial justice in voting has resulted in some terms you may hear in discussions on redistricting.
- “Packing” refers to minority voters being compressed into a small number of districts to minimize their voting power.
- “Cracking” is splitting minority voters into many districts. An important aspect of the FVRA is that the pursuit of justice based on race, color, or membership in a language minority group does not require proof of intent. It is based solely on the population of the district.
In 2010, the League of Women Voters and other advocates in Florida were successful in passing two constitutional amendments to ensure fair state and congressional districts. The Florida Constitution now includes the following language: “No apportionment plan or individual district shall be drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent; and districts shall not be drawn with the intent or result of denying or abridging the equal opportunity of racial or language minorities to participate in the political process or to diminish their ability to elect representatives of their choice and districts shall consist of contiguous territory”. The constitution also requires “districts shall be as nearly equal in population as is practicable;… compact; and …where feasible, utilize existing political and geographical boundaries.”
- “Communities of interest” is a concept that advocates are trying to add to voting justice. This is defined as neighborhoods, communities, or groups of people who have common policy concerns which would benefit from being maintained in a single district. This consideration is being addressed by some states and is included in the legislation currently being discussed in the U.S. Congress. It is not, however, included in any legal protections available to Floridians.
Citizen Input
Redistricting has traditionally included citizen input solicited during meetings held throughout the state during which legislators listened to opinions and suggestions from voters. The League of Women Voters of Florida, the Fair Districts Coalition, and several Democratic legislators have urged committee chairs to conduct public hearings maintaining they are vital for creating fair voting districts.
We are not anticipating committee chairs will include the traditional “road show” nor online, real-time input from citizens. Some committee chairs are citing the shortened time frame due to the late arrival of census data as a reason to skip this time-consuming step.
In response to advocates who pushed for personal testimony, Senate Committee on Reapportionment Chairman, Ray Rodrigues, said there is no legal requirement to host public hearings. He also said there may be no practical reason either. “If you go back and look at what we received in public input during those tours over the last two redistricting cycles, it was primarily the public letting the Legislature know these are the ‘communities of interest’ that we want you to keep together. …..Now that Fair Districts has passed, and the court made clear in the 2012 litigation that the Fair Districts Coalition brought forth that the Legislature can’t consider communities of interest because it is not in the objective standards spelled out in the Fair Districts Amendments, that does beg the question of whether we need to have a traveling road show to receive that information if we can’t use it once we have it.” (1). This is an interesting, and perhaps unique, interpretation of the Florida Constitution.
Currently, the options for direct citizen input to legislators are to use the Florida Redistricting Website or to drive to Tallahassee. Using the website, we can send written comments or submit proposed map(s). The submittals by others can also be reviewed. We can drive to Tallahassee to testify in person during committee meetings. Advocates had noted that committee meetings were scheduled at the same time so a person could only attend one. Now they are held on different days, so travelers will have to stay overnight or travel back.
Issues of Interest
Daniel A. Smith and Michael McDonald, UF political science professors, were involved in helping to uncover the Florida Legislature’s redistricting scandal a decade ago. They are now raising questions about the current process. They have reviewed the contracts between the Legislature and their data management consulting firm and conclude the Legislature is not permitting public access to data being used to draw the maps.
“[T]he legal umbrella the Legislature has deployed enables the Legislature to violate the Fair Districts clauses in Florida’s Constitution…The most troubling evidence we’ve unearthed thus far is that the Legislature is violating its pledge to provide the same data they are using to draw maps…With out these data it is impossible to know if ESRI (the contractor) — through incompetence or malfeasance — manipulated the underlying data.” (2)
An additional concern raised about the contract is the inclusion of geocoding services, which allows identification of specific addresses on maps. Smith and McDonald claim “there is no redistricting purpose...that requires geocoding services…If the Legislature were to geocode the location of incumbents’ homes, they can better ensure district lines are drawn to benefit incumbents.” Without the data, “it is impossible to determine if a map is drawn ‘to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent’ as required by the Florida Constitution.” (2)
A final concern is the exemption of communication regarding redistricting from Florida’s Sunshine law (FS11.0431(2)e). Lack of access to communication among legislators will make it difficult to prove “intent” to favor one or the other party as required by the Constitution. Democrats have introduced bills HB 6053 and SB 530 to eliminate the exemption from the statute.
Prison Gerrymandering
The census counts people and identifies their residence as of April 1 the year the census is taken. Some Democratic lawmakers are advocating Florida follow the lead of 12 other states which, for purposes of redistricting, have decided to assign incarcerated residents to their pre-incarceration addresses. In Florida, about 149,000 adults are incarcerated, about 80,000 of them in state prisons, which are frequently located in rural areas. Including the incarcerated enhances the voting power of the districts where prisons are located by increasing the population size and diversity.
There is no federal prohibition against reassigning the incarcerated to their prior residence. In fact, the 2020 census data includes a table on “group quarters”, which includes prisons, making it simple to reallocate those numbers as districts are drawn. Florida legislators are unlikely to adjust the maps for incarcerated residents, but it does happen at the local level. Eight Florida counties with prisons within their boundaries exclude inmates when drawing local voting districts. In Jefferson County, the change resulted from a lawsuit that alleged that more than 43 percent of the voting-age people in one of the county’s districts were incarcerated in the state prison, giving non-incarcerated voters in that district outsized political influence compared with voters in the other districts. Nonetheless, the language of the Florida Constitution has been interpreted to mean the census data is to be used for redistricting without adjustment for the incarcerated.
Current Status
Proposed State Senate and Congressional redistricting plans are now available on the redistricting website. The maps were drawn by staff who were instructed to follow the guidelines that comply with the Fair District amendments to the state Constitution and court decisions from the 2012 redistricting cycle. The maps will be reviewed in redistricting committee meetings. The Miami-Herald Times and UF professor Michael McDonald have both requested the data being used to draw the maps. As of November 9, the requests have had no response.
The committee chair announced that people who want to comment in person must “list every person, group, or organization they collaborated with on their comment, or suggestion.” (3) This requirement addresses the transparency issues raised in the last redistricting debacle.
A follow-up memo was sent by Senate President Wilton Simpson, President-elect Kathleen Passidomo, and Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book. The memo says:
“Future political ambitions…should be not be of consideration as we review the work of the staff…we would encourage senators not to opine on the staff-produced maps in the context of your own political future. The time for campaigning is coming, but the time for legislating is now, which requires fulfilling our responsibility to pass constitutional maps…Nowhere is this responsibility more challenging than in redistricting given that some of us may ultimately decide to vote for a map knowing…that we will never be reelected…” (4)
What You Can Do
As citizens we must demand state and congressional districts fairly represent people of all races, colors, and members of minority language groups and do not favor one party or an incumbent. We must emphasize the need for a transparent process by advocating for the passage of HB6053/SB530. You can:
- Contact Chuck Clemons, who is the Representative of House District 21 and on a House redistricting committee;
- Contact Keith Perry and Yvonne Hinson;
- Send written comments to the committees through the Florida Redistricting Website;
- Drive to Tallahassee to testify in person - go with a group to make it more fun, and so your group can testify at more than one hearing;
- Write a letter to the editor;
- Write an op-ed;
- Talk to your friends, relatives, and neighbors;
- Discuss these issues with your community, social, and religious groups.
Update on Local Redistricting
Alachua County is still planning to complete redistricting by the end of the year. The staff have proposed districts which are very similar to the current ones. The most recent discussion by the Board of County Commissioners was held on November 9, 2021, and can be viewed here.
The Alachua County School Board has voted on new Districts, and you can read about it here.
The City of Gainesville plans to have the districts finalized by May 2022. They are inviting city residents to participate in the process and have made software available for residents to review and use to submit suggested maps to the city. Go to the City’s redistricting webpage to get involved.
References
- McDonald P. and Smith D. (2021, October 7). What is the Florida Legislature hiding on redistricting? The Tampa Bay Times. https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2021/10/07/what-is-the-florida-legislat...
- Cassels L. (2021, October 11). Senate still mum on whether to hold public hearings in drawing new voting districts. Florida Phoenix. https://floridaphoenix.com/blog/senate-still-mum-on-whether-to-hold-publ...
- Klas M.E. (2021, November 9). Florida Senate to have draft redistricting maps this week, but won’t hold public hearings. Miami Herald. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/arti...
- Fineout G. (2021, November 10). Stone: DeSantis owes me an 'apology'. Politico. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/florida-playbook/2021/11/10/stone-d...
Diane Dimperio is the LWVAC Redistricting Contact. If you would like more information or to get involved, please reach out to info [at] lwv-alachua.org.
