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…
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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.
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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…
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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…
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Virginia: SB 1000 Temporary Redistricting Advisory Commission

By EditorFeb 13, 2015
Virginia: SB 1000 Provides a new method for the preparation of state legislative and congressional redistricting plans; spells out standards for developing plans, including population equality, compactness, maintenance of cores of existing districts, and respect for locality boundaries; precludes consideration of incumbency and political data in developing plans; assigns responsibility to the Division of Legislative Services to prepare plans for submission to the General Assembly; and establishes a temporary redistricting advisory commission to advise the Division, disseminate information on plans, and hold hearings for public reaction to plans. The General Assembly may reject the Division's plans and may ultimately amend…
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