2021-09-15 City Council Item No. 12.3 Redistricting Summary Presentation Regular MEETING - Additional Meeting MaterialsSummary of Redistricting Law, Criteria, and Process
2021-22 City Council Redistricting Process
Item No. 12.3
September 15, 2021
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Overview of Redistricting Laws
•Menifee Municipal Code
•U.S. Constitution
•Federal Voting Rights Act
•California Elections Code
•California Constitution
•Case Law
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Menifee Municipal Code
Chapter 2.04 City Council
Section 2.04.070 Councilmanic District Boundaries
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Equal Population Principle
•General Principle: City Council Districts must be substantially equal in population
•U.S. Constitution's Equal Protection Clause and “One-Person, One-Vote” Jurisprudence
•California Elections Code Section 21621 (“substantially equal” in “total population” as required by the U.S. Constitution)
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Equal Population Principle•Make good faith effort to draw districts with equal population
•Exact equality is not required for local districts if deviation is justified by legitimate state purposes
•Deviation of less that 10 percent is presumptively valid
•Only if for legitimate reasons
•Deviations should be explained on traditional redistricting criteria of other lawful justifications
•Legal Authorities –U.S. Constitution, Supreme Court Case Law including Reynolds v. Sims, Gaffney v. Cummings, Larios v. Cox, Harris v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission
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Equal Population Principle
•Deviations from equal population should be justified
•Show consistent reliance on traditional redistricting criteria (e.g.,
respecting neighborhoods and communities of interest, observing
natural and other boundaries, maintaining compact districts)
•Do not seek to disadvantage any particular group
•Show good faith effort
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Equal Population Principle
•Measuring Population Equality and Deviation
•Start with City’s total population
•Determine ideal equal population of the 5 Council Districts
•Determine percent deviation from ideal of each district
•Determine total percent deviation –difference between the districts with the greatest positive and negative percent deviations
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Equal Population Principle
District Total
Population
Ideal
Population
Percent
Deviation
1 23,750 25,000 -5
2 25,625 25,000 +2.5
3 25,375 25,000 +1.5
4 25,250 25,000 +1.0
•Example of a City with a population of 100,000 and 4 Council Districts
•Total Percent Deviation = 7.5%
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Traditional Redistricting Criteria
•Focus on traditional redistricting criteria
•Contiguity
•Compactness
•Natural Boundaries and Streets
•Neighborhood and Communities of Interest
•Legal Authorities –Case Law, California Constitution Article XXI, Section 2; California Elections Code Section 21621
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Traditional Redistricting Criteria•Contiguity –all parts of district should connect
•Compactness –district should be geographically compact
•Many ways to measure compactness
•Be aware of appearance, shape, and border lines
•Existing boundaries –observe existing boundaries
•Geographic, topographic boundaries
•Streets, Freeways
•Other Boundaries
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Traditional Redistricting Criteria
•Neighborhoods and Communities of Interest –preserve communities sharing common interests
•Neighborhoods
•Example of Common Interests
•Land Use patterns (suburban, industrial, commercial)
•Cultural and Language characteristics
•Income Level
•Educational Background; Employment and Economic patterns
•Crime, schools, other common issues
•Obtain public testimony and consider census data, City neighborhood information, planning information, etc.
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Equal Protection Clause
•14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause prohibits the use of race as the predominant factor in redistricting except in narrow cases
•race generally cannot be “predominant” factor
•i.e., no racial gerrymandering
•Legal Authorities –U.S. Constitution; Supreme Court Case law including Shaw v. Reno, Miller v. Johnson, Bush v. Vera, Cromartie I & II, Alabama Legislative Black Caucus, Cooper v. Harris, Bethune-Hill
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Equal Protection Clause
•14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause does not, however, prohibit all consideration of race
•May consider race as a factor along with traditional race-neutral
redistricting criteria
•Consideration of traditional criteria should not be subordinated to consideration of race and should be contemporaneous
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Equal Protection Clause
•Evidence of race as a predominant factor:
•Direct testimony
•Circumstantial evidence (demographics, shape, changes, process, public record)
•If race determined to be predominant factor, strict scrutiny applies to redistricting plan
•Need compelling state interest
•Plan must be narrowly tailored
•High burden
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Federal Voting Rights Act
•Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
•Prohibits any voting practice or procedure that “results in a denial or
abridgement” of the right to vote based on race, color, or language
minority status
•Applies to prohibit redistricting plans that result in “vote dilution” by depriving minority voters of an equal opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice
•i.e., must not unlawfully minimize or cancel minority voting strength
•Discriminatory effect sufficient, discriminatory intent not required
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•Examples of “Vote Dilution”
•Fracturing –dispersing minority voters into several different districts
such that a bloc-voting majority can routinely outvote them
•Packing –concentrating minority voters into a small number of districts and thereby minimizing their influence in other districts
Federal Voting Rights Act
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Federal Voting Rights Act
•The Supreme Court has set three preconditions to Section 2 liability under the federal VRA (the “Gingles” criteria)
•The minority group must be sufficiently large and geographically compact to constitute a majority in a district
•The minority group must be politically cohesive; and
•The majority votes sufficiently as a bloc to enable it usually to defeat the minority’s preferred candidate
•Legal Authorities –Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act; Thornburg v. Gingles
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Summary of Law and Criteria•Key Principles to Keep in Mind
•Strive for Population Equality
•Make a good faith effort to draw districts equal in population
•Justify any deviations with use of traditional redistricting criteria
•Focus on Traditional Redistricting Criteria
•Draw contiguous and compact districts
•Respect boundaries, neighborhoods, and communities of interest
•Obtain public testimony, neighborhood/community information, and make a good record
•Do not Use Race as the Predominant Factor
•Focus on traditional race-neutral criteria
•Comply with the Voting Rights Act
•Avoid fracturing or packing minority voters
•Establish and Follow a Good Process
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2021-22 Redistricting Timeline•Summary of Redistricting Law, Criteria, and Process Wed. September 15, 2021
•Public Workshop and Online Mapping Tool PresentationPre-Draft Map Public Hearing Wed. November 3, 2021
•Four Public Workshops TBD••Presentation and Adoption of Draft City Council MemberDistrictBoundariesMapPre-Final Map Public Hearing Wed. February 2,2022
•Pre-Final Map Public Hearing Wed. February 16, 2022
•Presentation and Adoption of Final City Council Member District Boundaries Map (First Reading) Wed. March 2, 2022
•Presentation and Adoption of Final City Council Member District Boundaries Map (Second Reading if needed) Wed. March 16, 2022
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