FAIR MAPS

Redistricting fight over new Arkansas House map begins in federal court with focus on Black voters

FEB. 2, 2022

Attorneys in a legislative redistricting lawsuit began squaring off Tuesday over whether a federal judge should strike down the newly drawn state House of Representatives map, which opponents argued dilutes the strength of Black voters.

The lawsuit was filed Dec. 29 by attorneys for the Arkansas State Conference NAACP and the Arkansas Public Policy Panel against the Arkansas Board of Apportionment, which consists of the state's three top constitutional officers: Republicans Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Attorney General Leslie Rutledge and Secretary of State John Thurston.

On Monday, U.S. District Judge Lee Rudofsky granted a defense motion to quash subpoenas issued to Hutchinson, Rutledge and Thurston on the grounds that requiring the state's constitutional officers to testify would create an undue burden so early in the case.

Rudofsky did not rule out the possibility that the three will be called to testify once the matter goes to trial, which will come at a later date. Tuesday's proceedings kicked off a preliminary injunction hearing that is expected to last three to four days.

Legislative districts are redrawn every 10 years after the decennial census. The first elections under the newly drawn map, if it withstands legal scrutiny, are the May primaries.

Brian Sells, arguing for the plaintiffs, said that in Arkansas no Black candidate has ever bested a white candidate in a contested House race in a white majority district because of the racial polarization of voters.

"At least not in the last 10 years, we know that," Sells said, "and we think not in the last 140 years, since the dawn of Reconstruction."

Sells said voting in Arkansas is even more racially polarized than the U.S. Supreme Court found voting polarization to be in North Carolina more than 40 years ago when the high court labeled racially polarized voting to be "severe" in that state.

He pointed out that in last year's census, Arkansas gained Black residents "both in absolute numbers as well as a percentage of population," while the white population fell by 110,000 people, "more than enough to populate three full House districts."

Anthony Fairfax, a redistricting consultant who drew up illustrative maps for the plaintiffs, testified that he was surprised to learn that the 2021 maps approved by the Board of Apportionment contained only 11 Black majority districts, one less than the 2011 maps when compared with the state population changes over the 10 year period.

Fairfax testified how he used data from the U.S. Census Bureau to draw an additional five Black majority House districts in preparing illustrative maps for the plaintiffs.

State Rep. Monte Hodges, D-Blytheville, a five-term member of the state House of Representatives and chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, testified that the changes in his district, which encompasses a large part of Mississippi County in northeast Arkansas, removed a large bloc of Black voters while adding a significant portion of white-majority areas to the district.

He testified that the change could make it more difficult for a Black House candidate to win in the newly drawn district.

An effect of drawing more Black majority districts, Hodges said, would be more Black House members, likely to spur greater participation among Black voters and result in more legislative committee memberships distributed among Black legislators.

"We'd have a seat at the table," he said.

He said Black residents are shortchanged in the House by underrepresentation on committees, many of which have no Black members. The House currently has 12 Black members.

"Can 12 cover all the committees?" asked Gary Sullivan, an Arkansas ACLU attorney.

"No," Hodges said.

Hodges testified that the redrawn district cut the town of Turrell from the south part of the district and added more of the north side of Blytheville and the town of Gosnell, which he said diluted Black voter strength in the district.

"It's still considered a minority-majority district," Hodges said, "but only by a minuscule amount."

Hodges is not running for reelection. Instead, he has said he is running for the Democratic nomination for the 1st Congressional District.

Barry Jefferson, president of the Jacksonville NAACP, testified that concerns among Black voters include voter suppression, along with other legislation that he said tends to target Black voters.

"There are multiple things that affect our membership," Jefferson said. "Not just our membership but many things that affect the African-American community as a whole."

The case continues at 9 a.m. today as Fairfax resumes his testimony under cross-examination by defense attorneys.

Panel, NAACP challenge Ark. House redistricting plan undermining voting strength of Black Arkansans

DEC. 29, 2021

LITTLE ROCK — The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Arkansas, Law Office of Bryan L. Sells LLC, and Dechert LLP filed a federal lawsuit today challenging a new redistricting plan for the Arkansas State House of Representatives that would undermine the voting strength of Black Arkansans.

The case was filed on behalf of the Arkansas State Conference NAACP and the Arkansas Public Policy Panel. The lawsuit charges the proposed map, as currently drawn, denies Black Arkansans an equal opportunity to participate in the political process and elect candidates of their choice, in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

New political maps are drawn as part of a once-in-a-decade redistricting process triggered by census data. They determine the allocation of political power, representation, and access to resources at every level of government for the next 10 years.

According to the lawsuit, the redistricting plan put forth by the 2021 Arkansas Board of Apportionment has the effect of diluting the voting strength of Black voters in Central Arkansas, the Upper Delta, the Lower Delta, and Southwest Arkansas. The Board of Apportionment should have drawn at least four additional Black-majority districts.

“The board’s maps substantially underrepresent Black Arkansans, and unnecessarily divide communities of interest that merit legislative representation,” said Holly Dickson, executive director of the ACLU of Arkansas. “Arkansas has historically diluted the political power of Arkansas’ minority populations. If newly drawn maps aren’t updated to fairly represent all Arkansans, these communities will continue to face obstacles to meaningful participation in the political process.”

Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act bans the drawing of legislative district lines that water down the voting strength of communities of color. In the last decade, the Black population in Arkansas has grown, yet the Board of Apportionment failed to craft district lines that would allow these new voters to elect their candidates of choice.

“If implemented, this redistricting plan would unequivocally and illegally weaken the political power of Black voters,” said Ceridwen Cherry, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “There is no legitimate justification for drawing maps that deny Black voters their voice in the political process.”

The lawsuit outlines Arkansas’ long history of official voting-related discrimination on the basis of race. The suit charges the new redistricting plan is the latest effort to limit Black voting strength.

The case, Arkansas State Conference NAACP v. Arkansas Board of Apportionment, was filed in U.S. District Court for theEastern District of Arkansas in Little Rock.

Complaint: https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/complaint-arkansas-state-conference-naacp-v-arkansas-board-apportionment

Panel analysis: BOA's proposed legislative maps largely ignore redistricting criteria

**Click the image above to read our report.**

Nov. 26, 2021

The Arkansas Public Policy Panel and Arkansas Citizens First Congress today submitted comments in the form of a report finding serious deficiencies with Arkansas Board of Apportionment’s state legislative redistricting proposal.

The Panel and CFC analysis revealed that the Board’s proposal violates state and federal law by ignoring almost all of the eight criteria for redistricting by engaging in partisan and racial gerrymandering.

The report finds that the proposed district lines are politically and racially gerrymandered. They divide communities unnecessarily to serve political ends and marginalize the ability of racial and ethnic groups to influence the outcome of elections. The Board’s proposal is so flawed it illustrates why Arkansas needs redistricting reform to make the process more independent, consistent, transparent and less partisan.

The Panel and CFC ask the Board to completely redraw the maps, following the legally required criteria. They also ask the board to have much more extensive public hearings across the state to give the public a chance to respond to any proposed redistricting of their communities.

Specifically, the report finds:

Many proposed districts split existing political boundaries of city, county or other boundaries where they should be left whole. The senate map had 33 counties split 72 times and the House map had 53 counties split 135 times. Cities as large as Little Rock, Fayetteville, Pine Bluff and Jonesboro were excessively divided. Dozens of small communities are cracked as well such as Mtn. Home, Magnolia, Hoaxie and Forrest City.
The proposed maps result in minority voter dilution through either cracking minority voting precincts or packing high numbers of minority voting precincts into fewer districts. It will result in fewer opportunities for minorities to influence the outcome of elections and increase the number of districts where candidates can ignore the concerns of minority voters.

Many proposed districts fail the compactness test — they are sprawling, and needlessly complicated without a rationale basis. Over half of the Senate districts and nearly half of the House districts fail a commonly accepted test for compactness. House Districts 17 and 92 are the most egregious examples.
Many proposed districts also divide communities of interest. Urban precincts are put together with rural ones. Minority precincts are placed with largely white precincts.
The proposed maps are highly partisan and protect incumbents. Many maps look like they were drawn to arrive at a specific political outcome. The partisan lean of the maps heavily favors Republicans, far exceeding their makeup of the general electorate.
The process the Board used to create these proposed maps was deeply flawed. The Board’s make up of three partisan elected officials creates self-interested and partisan outcomes. The criteria the Board followed are poorly defined and lack any clear prioritization. And the public engagement process the Board used was also deeply flawed. It is likely that most residents of communities that have been cracked apart do not know they are being divided from their neighbors.

“The proposal creates real-world challenges for Arkansas’ democracy,” said Bill Kopsky, Director of the Arkansas Public Policy Panel. “It creates uncompetitive elections where opportunities for voters to choose between highly competitive candidates are limited. This will lead to even more polarized and divisive politics.”

“They marginalized the political power of racial and ethnic groups,” said Kymara Seals, Policy Director of Arkansas Citizens First Congress. “This will exacerbate systemic civil rights and racial equity challenges.”

The Panel and CFC provide a better redistricting proposal that follows the criteria in Arkansas and Federal law. It has less deviation from the one person, one vote principle, follows the Voting Rights Act and preserves minority voting power. They are more compact and preserve existing boundaries of counties and cities as well as communities of interest and result in many more competitive districts.

Click here to view the report.

REDISTRICTING IN ARKANSAS

Redistricting is critical to our democracy and we want to make sure that Arkansans understand the process, why it’s important to them, and how they can impact it.

The Arkansas Board of Apportionment was the body charged with re-drawing the lines for Arkansas’s 100 state House districts and 35 Senate districts following the release of 2020 U.S. Census data. The Board was comprised of the Governor, the Secretary of State, and the Attorney General.

COI Worksheet

Sharing your “community of interest” testimony at a redistricting hearing is a powerful way of shaping your community’s district maps for the next decade.

Your community can be as small as your block, your neighborhood association, or the network of parents who all send their kids to the same school or participate in the same Little League. Or it might include everyone in your city or county who has a shared interest in keeping the community together.
This form walks you step-by-step on how to describe your community, so you can go to a hearing with an easy-to-follow script you wrote yourself.

(Click image to download PDF)