Page 10 The Skanner July 6, 2016
News
By DAVID A. LIEB
Associated Press
T
hey have nicknames
like “the dead liz-
ard,” ‘’the praying
mantis” and “the
upside-down elephant.”
The odd-shaped legis-
lative districts that dot
many states are no coin-
cidence. The jagged lines
oten have been carefully
drawn by state lawmak-
ers to beneit particular
incumbents or politi-
cal parties. The tactic,
known as gerrymander-
ing, is nearly as old as the
country itself.
It’s also a maneuver
that can result in an
underrepresentation
of minorities in some
“
But racial gerryman-
dering can occur in a
couple of ways: when mi-
nority communities are
divided among multiple
districts, thus diluting
their voting strength;
or when minorities are
heavily packed into a sin-
gle district, thus dimin-
ishing their likelihood of
winning multiple seats.
Federal judges ruled
recently that lawmakers
illegally packed large
numbers of black vot-
ers into congressional
districts in North Car-
olina and Virginia. But
the U.S. Supreme Court
upheld an Arizona map
that increased Hispanic
percentages in some dis-
tricts by loading more
al concerns. Indiana is
studying redistricting
changes, and a redistrict-
ing initiative will appear
on the ballot this fall in
South Dakota.
Voters in Illinois could
decide this November on
a proposed constitution-
al amendment that would
strip the redistricting
responsibility from the
Legislature and hand it
to a new 11-member citi-
zen panel that would be
barred from favoring
any political party as it
draws the boundaries.
“If you remove the par-
tisan intent, then you
make it much easier to
draw maps that are fair
for everyone, including
minority groups,” said
Across the U.S, minorities now comprise near-
ly two-iths of the population, yet hold less
than one-ith of all legislative seats
legislatures. Across the
U.S, minorities now com-
prise nearly two-iths
of the population, yet
hold less than one-ith
of all legislative seats,
according to an Associat-
ed Press analysis of data
from the U.S. Census Bu-
reau, Congress and the
National Conference of
State Legislatures.
Federal guidelines re-
quire that legislative dis-
tricts are similar in pop-
ulation and not drawn to
deny minorities a chance
to elect the candidate of
their choice.
white voters in others.
Meanwhile,
momen-
tum appears to be build-
ing to pare back the role
of partisan politics in re-
districting.
The politically power-
ful states of California,
Florida, New York and
Ohio all have overhauled
their redistricting pro-
cesses in recent years.
Nebraska
lawmakers
passed a measure this
year to create an inde-
pendent
redistricting
panel, though it was
vetoed by a governor
who cited constitution-
Dave Mellet, campaign
manager for Indepen-
dent Maps, the organi-
zation sponsoring the
Illinois initiative.
President
Barack
Obama also called for re-
districting reforms ear-
lier this year, suggesting
that bipartisan groups
handle the task.
In most places, state
lawmakers
currently
divvy up districts every
10 years, ater each cen-
sus. But commissions are
primarily responsible
for U.S. congressional
redistricting in six states
AP PHOTO/ERIC GAY, FILE
Can Redistricting Reform Close the Minority Gap in Capitols?
In this May 30, 2013 ile photo, Texas state Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa looks at maps on display prior
to a Senate Redistricting committee hearing in Austin, Texas. The U.S. Supreme Court handed Texas a
victory Monday, April 4, 2016, upholding the state’s system of drawing legislative voting districts based
on everyone who lives there, not just registered voters.
and for state legislative
redistricting in 13 states,
with varying degrees of
political independence.
Some minority law-
makers want to expand
the use of special redis-
tricting panels.
An appointed commis-
sion “creates the appear-
ance of more fairness,
and you’d have more
of an opportunity for
there to be more diversi-
ty if you do it that way,”
said Delaware state Sen.
Margaret Rose Henry,
the only black senator
in a state where Afri-
can-Americans comprise
more than one-ith of the
population.
An independent com-
mission began handling
redistricting in Califor-
nia following the 2010
census as the result of a
voter-approved initia-
tive.
The nonpartisan Pub-
lic Policy Institute of
California found that
the maps produced by
the independent com-
mission included six
additional
Assembly
districts where Latinos
comprised a majority of
residents and one more
in the Senate. The maps
also created the state’s
irst
district
where
Asian Americans were a
majority.
Assemblyman
Luis
Alejo, chairman of the
California Latino Legis-
lative Caucus, cites low-
er voter turnout and the
departure of some Latino
incumbents for a decline.
He is a supporter of the
independent redistrict-
ing commission as “a less
political process” and be-
lieves Latinos ultimately
will beneit from it.
OBITUARY: Alberta Moody
June 14, 1929 - June 28, 2016
Alberta Moody was
born in Hallsville, Texas
to Ellen Davis Sloan and
Columbus Coby. In De-
cember of 1946 she met
the love of her life Cubby
Earl Moody. They were
married on January 16,
1947. Alberta gave birth
Alberta Moody
to their irst born son in
1948. They moved to Portland and
shared a life together for 53 years.
To this union ten more
children were born.
Her service will be July
11, 2016 at Mt. Olivet Bap-
tist Church at 11:00 am.