Bartlett v. Strickland
The Bartlett v. Strickland case, decided by the US Supreme Court in 2009, struck down a redistricting plan in North Carolina that attempted to preserve minority voting power in a state legislative district that was 39% African American. Their ruling stated that that a minority group is only protected under Section 2 of the Federal Voting Rights Act if that minority group makes up over 50% of the voting-age population in an area.
California Voting Rights Act
The California State Senate introduced the California Voting Rights Act in 2001 to make it easier for minority groups to sue over the dilution of the strength of their votes in at-large elections. It was passed into law in 2002.
Every ten years, the United States conducts a comprehensive survey of all of its residents. Amongst other uses, the demographic data collected from this Census is used to apportion political representation.
Citizens Redistricting Commission (CRC)
The California CRC is a 14-person commission that is made up of 5 Democrats, 5 Republicans, and 4 Independents. The CRC will determine California’s district lines for US Congress, the California State Assembly, the California State Legislature, and the Board of Equalization. The CRC was established with the passage of Proposition 11 in 2008; its responsibilities were expanded by the passage of Proposition 20 in 2010.
community of interest (COI)
Though there is no clear legal definition of a community of interest, the Brennan Center for Legal Justice broadly defines COIs as “a group of people concentrated in a geographic area who share similar interests and priorities – whether social, cultural, ethnic, economic, religious, or political.” In California, the State Constitution specifies that COIs “shall not include relationships with political parties, incumbents, or political candidates.” California’s Proposition 20, which passed in 2010, went a little further in defining COIs as "a contiguous population which shares common social and economic interests that should be included within a single district for purposes of its effective and fair representation. Examples of such shared interests are those common to an urban area, an industrial area, or an agricultural area, and those common to areas in which the people share similar living standards, use the same transportation facilities, have similar work opportunities, or have access to the same media of communication relevant to the election process." However, these definitions leave a lot open to interpretation, meaning that COIs are likely to be further defined in court cases in the coming years.
Compactness is a key consideration in the redistricting process. Generally, a compact district would have a fairly regular shape (like a circle or square) without a lot of offshoots or tendrils. However, there is little agreement about how to define compactness, and many existing districts do not conform to a regular shape. The California Constitution was amended in 2008 to read “to the extent practicable… districts shall be drawn to encourage geographical compactness such that nearby areas of population are not bypassed for more distant population.”
Contiguity is a key consideration in the redistricting process. A contiguous district is one in which you can travel from any point in the district to any other point in the district without crossing the district boundary. Exceptions are often made where water (rivers, lakes, etc.) is involved in the district, or where existing political boundaries are not contiguous.
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.
To intentionally draw district lines to give advantage to one party or group over another.
a political candidate who is currently in office.
A bloc of voters that make up a minority in a community based on race, ethnicity, religion or language spoken.
Nesting happens when two or more lower house legislative districts are located within one upper house district. (For instance, since there are 80 California State Assembly districts and 40 California State Senate districts, there could be two assembly districts nested within each senate district.) Nesting reduces administrative burden, such as the number of different ballots that need to be produced. However, this practice may also affect the ability to draw districts that honor minority opportunity districts or other communities with shared needs for both legislative houses.
“one person, one vote”
“One person, one vote” is one of the key tenets of redistricting. Ensuring that districts have equal or very close to equal population ensures that every person’s voting power is equal. An example of unequal voting power would be if District A and District B each elect one representative, but District A has 50,000 people in it while District B has 100,000 people in it, you could say that the people in District A have twice the voting power of the people in District B. Making districts have the same population (plus or minus 10%) works against this level of disparity.
Packing is 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.
Political boundaries are the existing subdivisions of a state (like counties, townships, cities, etc.), and are often taken into consideration when redistricting.
California’s Proposition 11, or the Voters FIRST Act, was passed in 2008 to establish the Citizens Redistricting Commission. Prop 11 gave the CRC the power to draw electoral boundaries for State Assembly, State Senate and the Board of Equalization.
California’s Proposition 20, or the Voters FIRST Act for Congress, was passed in 2010 to expanded the powers given to the Citizens Redistricting Commission to include drawing congressional district boundaries. It also went further in providing a definition for communities of interest as "a contiguous population which shares common social and economic interests that should be included within a single district for purposes of its effective and fair representation. Examples of such shared interests are those common to an urban area, an industrial area, or an agricultural area, and those common to areas in which the people share similar living standards, use the same transportation facilities, have similar work opportunities, or have access to the same media of communication relevant to the election process."
Tacking is a practice used in redistricting to disenfranchise specific populations’ voting power. For instance, redistricting could “tack” on voters of one ethnicity or political party by extending the geography of a district to include an historic stronghold of one particular ethnicity or political party, thereby increasing that group’s voting power in that district.
Voting Rights Act (VRA)
The US Congress passed the federal Voting Rights Act in 1965 to outlaw discriminatory voting practices against minorities. It was specifically aimed at curbing voting practices that were being used in Southern states to disenfranchise African American voters.
Section 2 prohibits these acts by stating that “no voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.” This section was later amended to included protections for those with membership in a minority language group.
Through litigation since the passage of the VRA, Section 2 has protected minority voters’ rights even when intentional discrimination can’t be proved; discrimination could be found if minority voters did not have equal access to the voting process as non-minority voters (such as through drawing of district lines to dilute the voice of minority voters). In 2009, the Supreme Court’s Bartlett v. Strickland decision weakened Section 2 protections by stating that only districts with greater than 50% minority population are afforded minority protection status.
Section 5 of the VRA requires that certain districts with a history of discriminating against minority voters must have any changes to their district lines or voting practices “precleared” by the US Department of Justice. In California, Kings, Merced, Monterey and Yuba Counties have preclearance requirements.