Redistricting: Incumbents, Open Seats, and Partisanship
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8 responses to “Redistricting: Incumbents, Open Seats, and Partisanship”
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I don’t remember anything being said during the campaign for the Constitutional amendment about incumbent protection or during presentations by Virginia2021. I still favor having the Districts drawn by computer with no reference to voting history or residence of incumbents.
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On its face, the proposition of drawing districts strictly by computer sounds good. There are some drawbacks, however. First, to be in compliance with the Voting Rights Act, one would probably have to take voting history into consideration, at least in some areas. Second, a computer drawn map would likely split counties and cities into several pieces much more than a map drawn by people. Third, a computer would not know, or care, about communities of interest. One example from the current process illustrates this last point. Confronted with two perfectly legitimate maps of two districts incorporating Pittyslvania, Henry, Patrick, Franklin and Floyd counties, Del. Les Adams argued that the residents in northern Pittsylvania had more in common with Franklin and Henry Counties, as drawn on one map, than with voters in Floyd County, farther to the west, as drawn on another map. The Commission went with his request. The change had nothing to do wit protecting incumbents, partisanship, or racial considerations. A computer could not handle that.
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A computer program could absolutely consider jurisdictional boundaries as one of its important inputs. It is my contention that the Voting Rights Act outlawed the intentional discrimination against protected classes in the drawing of District lines. It was never designed to require the design of districts to include specific percentages of minority groups, although some courts may have interpreted it that way. I do not think any Court has ruled on whether districts drawn using purely objective criteria meet the requirements of the VRA. The idea of “communities of interest” to me is so nebulous that it not only can not be handled by a computer programmer, it cannot be handled by a human map drawer.
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The lawyers for the Redistricting Commission, on both sides, think the Voting Rights Act, and case law associated with it, goes further than your interpretation. According to them, not only does the Act prohibit deliberate discrimination, but it also requires states to draw district lines so that a minority group would have a chance to elect representatives of its choice. That means creating majority minority districts, where feasible. You are correct that the VRA does not require specific percentages below that. The Democrats on the Commission contend that Virginia law, specifically Sec. 24.2-304.04, requires the establishment of opportunity districts. That law has not been tested, yet.
Recognition of “communities of interest” is also required that Virginia Code section. I agree that it is a nebulous term and pretty subjective, but comments to the Commission form members of the public indicate that it is important to many residents.
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The lawyers for the Redistricting Commission, on both sides, think the Voting Rights Act, and case law associated with it, goes further than your interpretation. According to them, not only does the Act prohibit deliberate discrimination, but it also requires states to draw district lines so that a minority group would have a chance to elect representatives of its choice. That means creating majority minority districts, where feasible. You are correct that the VRA does not require specific percentages below that. The Democrats on the Commission contend that Virginia law, specifically Sec. 24.2-304.04, requires the establishment of opportunity districts. That law has not been tested, yet.
Recognition of “communities of interest” is also required that Virginia Code section. I agree that it is a nebulous term and pretty subjective, but comments to the Commission form members of the public indicate that it is important to many residents.
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When this gets to the Virginia Supreme Court, at least they won’t blatantly be protecting incumbents. In what way does that criteria serve the interest of the citizenry of Virginia? I don’t care which party is favored by it.
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By the pricking of my thumbs…
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James, your ads screwed up. One just popped up favoring H.R. 1.
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