U.S. SUPREME COURT RULING ON REDISTRICTING

On March 9, 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that governments are not required by the federal Voting Rights Act to draw electoral districts that increase the number of minority candidates in districts that contain less than fifty percent of a minority population. However, the Court did affirm that race and ethnicity must be considered in single- member districts that have fifty percent of a minority population or more.

The Supreme Court reached this decision in Bartlett v. Strickland, No. 07-689, a case stemming from North Carolina in which the state legislature attempted to create a single–member district that contained a thirty-nine percent minority population. In question was the applicability of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, “Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 prohibits voting practices or procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, color or membership in one of the language minority groups” of single member districts. However, by a 5-4 vote, the Court ruled that Section 2 cannot be interpreted to include “crossover districts.” A crossover district is the grouping together of minority voters to elect candidates from the minority population, thus preventing the majority population from determining the outcome of the election.

New voting districts will likely be drawn in many areas after the results of the 2010 U.S. Census have been re-leased. The Court’s ruling is expected to provide guidance to local governments in determining how to redraw single member districts. We available to assist you with your city’s redistricting efforts resulting from the 2010 Census.

NEWS ON THE 2010 CENSUS

On March 2nd, associate Roger Gordon, of the Bojorquez Law Firm, participated in a community forum, organized by the United Stated Census Bureau and hosted by the City of Austin, designed to introduce the Bureau’s new American Community Survey (ACS) to local elected officials, administrators, and city attorneys. The ACS is a nationwide survey designed to provide communities a fresh look at how they are changing. It is a critical element in the Census Bureau’s re-engineered decennial census program. The ACS collects and produces population and housing information every year instead of every ten years. The Bureau’s most significant program change in decades will provide communities with demographic information on a more regular basis, rather than being forced to rely on information collected only once every ten years.

This development within the bureau (nearly half a decade in planning) will provide communities of 20,000 or less some of the most current and up-to-date demographic in-formation that has ever been made available. The ability of a small community to track demographic trends – such as age, ethnicity, income, number of residents, and educational background – will of no doubt be valuable to growing cities as policy decisions are considered regarding infrastructure, schools, and community grant pro-grams. The law firms of Redistricting Solutions will continue to assist our clients in managing the growth and development of their communities through the collection, analysis and interpretation of the data provided by the new American Community Survey.

Recent Presentations

• “Redistricting Issues for 2010″ by Sara Leon – Texas Rural Education Association, October 28, 2009, Buda, Texas
• “Upcoming Issues from the Federal Courts: Is Your District Prepared for the Census?” by Sara Leon – Region 12 Education Service Center, Waco, Texas, September 23, 2009