Census Bureau Begins 2015 Testing in 2 States

Census Bureau Begins 2015 Testing in 2 States

By EditorFeb 23, 2015
WASHINGTON, Feb. 19, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Census Bureau will begin the 2015 Census Test in the Savannah, Ga., area on Feb. 23 by allowing residents to register for the upcoming test using its "Notify Me" website. Residents across 20 counties in Georgia and South Carolina will have the opportunity to specify how they would like to be notified to participate in the count beginning on March 23. Traditionally, the Census Bureau has communicated through the mail. However, the "Notify Me" website provides an additional option for people to register their preferred contact information at census.gov/2015 to be notified…
Strategy and Politics
Read More
City of Santa Barbara Bracing for the Inevitable: Losing in Court

City of Santa Barbara Bracing for the Inevitable: Losing in Court

By EditorFeb 18, 2015
The city of Santa Barbara is bracing for the inevitable change to district elections after the at-large voting system for its city council election was challenged under the Voting Rights Act. According to the Santa Barbara Independent, the city has approved $400,000 to hire a notable voting rights attorney, not to win its lawsuit, which is scheduled to go to trial soon, but to prepare a new district map and perhaps negotiate a settlement. City officials point out two cities that lost in similar challenges; Palmdale and Whittier. Like many local jurisdictions around the country, formally homogeneous populations are changing rapidly…
Redistricting,
Read More
Judge Chooses ACLU Map for Yakima, Washington City Council

Judge Chooses ACLU Map for Yakima, Washington City Council

By EditorFeb 18, 2015
Its official, the Yakima, Washington city council will now elect its members from seven single-member districts, two of which will have large Latino voting populations. The city had been sued by the ACLU for its at-large voting system and the effect it had on the Latino community. A federal district court found in favor the ACLU and directed both the city and the ACLU to offer a redistricting map that would afford the Latino population better representation. The court this week, chose the ACLU map. Read.
Redistricting, ,
Read More
Quarterly Redistricting Update: January 2015

Quarterly Redistricting Update: January 2015

By EditorFeb 16, 2015
Arizona    October 2014- The Supreme Court agreed to hear the Arizona State Legislature’s case against the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission - formed in 2000 when voters approved Proposition 106. This proposition amended the state constitution to assign the redistricting function to a 5 member body. The seminal question in this case is whether the U.S. Constitution’s Elections Clause allows the redistricting task to be delegated away from the legislature. As simple a question as that may seem, there are several other preliminary issues of law that could keep the high court from ever answering the question. There are issues of standing, justiciability…
Uncategorized, , ,
Read More
Quarterly Redistricting Update: October 2014

Quarterly Redistricting Update: October 2014

By EditorFeb 16, 2015
Florida Fair Districts Case In early July, a circuit court judge in Tallahassee ruled Florida’s congressional map did indeed violate the state’s Fair Districts amendments outlawing partisan influenced linedrawing. The 5th and 10th congressional districts were singled out by the court as requiring modification. The judge added that Florida’s Republican legislature made a “mockery” of the Fair Districts Amendments and used political consultants on the sly to draw the map. In early August, the legislature approved a new map, which made changes to 7 districts in total - but Common Cause, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, says the map does…
Uncategorized, , , ,
Read More