The Rhode Island Constitution requires that, along with abiding by the Voting Rights Act (which outlines equal racial population requirements as well as other guidelines determining what construes “fair representation” based on factors such as political partisanship, geographical, municipal, and historical mapping lines1), our State must take into account further terms of fair and effective representation, such as race as well as what are known as “Communities of Interest.” 2

Communities of Interest can be determined by a number of factors, from racial or ethnic groups, to school districts and shared places of worship, and even to what grocery stores are most accessible to a particular community. Dividing these communities can take a massive toll on businesses, families, and individuals – diluting the impact of our citizens’ voices and votes. Loyola Law School’s Redistricting Blog describes an extreme example of such an impact:

In 1992, race riots in Los Angeles took a heavy financial toll on businesses in many neighborhoods, including the area known as Koreatown. When residents of Koreatown appealed to their elected representatives for assistance with the cleanup and recovery effort, however, each of their purported representatives claimed that the area was really a part of some other official’s district. The redistricting map, it appeared, had fractured Koreatown — an area barely over one square mile — into four City Council districts and five state Assembly districts. As a result, no legislator felt responsible to the Asian-American community.3

Rhode Island is one of the most diverse states in America, which is why our state serves as a functional field test for the US Census Bureau4. That diversity is something to celebrate, and it’s also something we must fight to protect. We need every League member to join our People Powered Fair Maps™ campaign in advocating for fair maps in Rhode Island.

Please mark your calendars for April 29th, the PPFM™ National Day of Action, and look for opportunities to discuss gerrymandering and fair maps with your own communities and legislators! 

Sources:

1. https://www.lwv.org/blog/10-things-you-should-know-about-redistricting
2. https://ballotpedia.org/Redistricting_in_Rhode_Island
3. https://redistricting.lls.edu/redistricting-101/why-should-we-care/#diluting+minority+votes
4. https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/2018-census-test/about.html