9-8-21 BOC Regular Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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VI.A Introduction to Redistricting Commissioner Districts Strategic Services Director Don Kovaskcitz provided a presentation for the commissioners regarding redistricting. The census data was four and a half months late this year so there is less time than there would normally be to complete the process. Redistricting is required to be completed and an updated resolution must be adopted by November 15th and submitted to the State and local Board of Elections. Redistricting is the process for redrawing the boundaries of the commissioner district to alleviate the imbalance of population distributions. The first thing to look at is population. Population must be balanced where the weight of one person must be somewhat the same in each district. To determine the population distributions you divide the total population by number of districts for ideal district population and take that number and subtract it from the current populations in each district and divide it by the ideal population to get the percent deviation. It needs to be within 5% deviation in any district. Districts 1 and 3 were found to be well over the 5% deviation so under this analysis, redistricting is required. Other considerations include looking at keeping the districts contiguous and compact. Mr. Kovaskcitz stated that the County is also required to keep incumbents that are elected at large in their districts. The County used to have to take minorities into account to be in compliance with Section 5 of the Voters Rights Act, which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2013, but compliance with Section 2 that prohibits voting practices that discriminate based upon race is still required. In each map there is a blue line around the current district as the colors for each district change in placement to account for redistribution in the population for each district. County Attorney Whitney Parrish stated that based on prior litigation, tracking race is something we should do even through it is not a predominant factor. A majority minority area is an area that is less than 50% non-hispanic white. County Attorney Parrish stated that the County has also hired a consultant to review the redrawn lines to make sure they comply with current laws and recommendations. Plan A incorporates part of District 3 into District 1 to bring the districts into a compliant deviation. Everything is contiguous and the incumbents are in their districts while still maintaining a majority minority district. Plan B provides for more compactness and redistributes population between Districts 1, 2, and 3. Plan B makes Plan A more compact. Plan C changes the district line along the railroad track to make District 1 more compact. Plan D is the most compact of the plans so all of District 2 is east of 87 and east of the bypass and east of 87 in the south and all of District 1 is west of the bypass. It is contiguous, compact and still maintains a majority minority district for Section 2 compliance. Plan D is based on population and follows natural and logical boundaries while continuing to follow Section 2 of the Voters Rights Act. County Attorney Whitney Parrish stated that there is nothing by statute that requires a public hearing, however she recommended holding a public hearing to seek input from the public. Commissioner Reives requested target dates from staff for redistricting. County Manager Dr. John Crumpton stated that it will be discussed on September 20th and the public hearing could be held on Monday, October 4th, and then after the public hearing, the board can vote on which map they prefer and proceed to adopt by resolution on October 18th.