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Redistricting & Gerrymandering in Arkansas

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Redistricting & Gerrymandering in Arkansas Redistricting & Gerrymandering in Arkansas How Our Districts Got Their Shapes Christopher Housenick, Ph.D., Political Science Patrick D. Hagge, Ph.D., Geography How the Districts Got Their Shapes 1 Redistricting & Gerrymandering in Arkansas How Our Districts Got Their Shapes WRITTEN BY Christopher Housenick, Ph.D., Political Science Patrick D. Hagge, Ph.D., Geography PREPARED BY The Arkansas Public Policy Panel is a statewide organization dedicated to achieving social and economic justice by organizing citizen groups around the state, educating and supporting them to be more effective and powerful, and linking them with one another in coalitions and networks. The Panel seeks to bring balance to the public policy process in Arkansas. www.arpanel.org [email protected] The Arkansas Citizens First Congress is a coalition of grassroots communities and allies working together to establish a strong public voice to influence political and policy decisions and ensure accountability. www.citizensfirst.org [email protected] 2 Redistricting & Gerrymandering in Arkansas Executive Summary All states are required to periodically redraw way, and many local offices like city council and electoral boundaries in a process known as school board are redistricted in other ways. redistricting. Because state and local populations change over time, district lines for political parties In the past, most states allowed elected officials like Congressional Districts and state legislative to draw new district lines, though this practice districts must be redrawn and voters must be is changing, largely due to controversy around reapportioned, or reallocated, to keep roughly the gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is where same number of persons in a particular district. electoral districts are drawn to favor or hurt one particular party, candidate or constituency group. This paper describes the process of redistricting The political party in charge of redistricting may in Arkansas and the vital role it plays in our benefit in future elections if a district is redrawn democracy. It compares how other states to include (or exclude) specific counties, cities, approach redistricting, lifts up challenges to fair neighborhoods, or demographic groups. redistricting caused by gerrymandering, and concludes by reviewing reforms being applied in Gerrymandering creates four core challenges for other states to address of those challenges. our democracy. It creates biased representation where parts of the public are denied political Arkansas has multiple types of redistricting for representation. It leads to uncompetitive elections local, state, and federal district lines. The Arkansas where candidates from the more represented party General Assembly determines the boundaries for are nearly assured of election. Because candidates Arkansas’s four U.S. House of Representative in gerrymandered districts need only worry about districts. The Board of Apportionment, a winning their party primary, it can lead to more committee made up of the Governor, the Secretary polarized politics with lawmakers representing the of State, and the Attorney General determines more extreme views of their party. And districts the boundaries for the 100 Arkansas State House that are gerrymandered are increasingly the targets districts and the 35 Arkansas State Senate of costly legal challenges. districts. Judicial districts are determined in another How the Districts Got Their Shapes 3 Unusual, sprawling district shapes are often In June 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that examples of gerrymandering, but there are many partisan gerrymandering complaints were few concrete legal definitions of just how not able to be heard by federal courts, leaving much gerrymandering is acceptable. The legal the door open for state or U.S. laws to address question surrounding partisan gerrymandering is gerrymandering. straightforward: “How much manipulation is too much manipulation based on party?” Trends in redistricting reform have surfaced from several states in recent years, to protect district Consider the complex U.S. Congressional district maps from gerrymandering. States are increasing borders in western Arkansas. The 3rd and 4th the specific criteria for their redistricting processes, District each have long “fingers” that snake to and several states are moving the redistricting the Ozarks and Arkansas River Valley area, and process away from elected officials to some form the horseshoe-shaped 3rd District cuts the town of independent commission. States who have of Alma in half. Driving on Interstate 40 from the not adopted these reforms are increasingly facing Oklahoma boundary, a traveler would pass through legal challenges against suspected gerrymandered the 3rd District, then the 4th District, then the 3rd redistricting maps. These reforms around the District again, then the 2nd District, all on a trip of country are allowing states to discard the heavily fewer than 100 miles. gerrymandered maps of the past in advance of the next redistricting process. GERRYMANDERING CREATES FOUR CORE CHALLENGES FOR OUR DEMOCRACY: 1. Biased representation 2. Uncompetitive elections 3. Growing political polarization 4. Increase in costly legal challenges 4 Redistricting & Gerrymandering in Arkansas Redistricting & Gerrymandering in Arkansas Table of Contents Glossary 6 An Overview of Redistricting 7 An Overview of Gerrymandering 9 Problems Created by Gerrymandering 13 Current State of Redistricting 15 How Redistricting is Performed in Arkansas 18 A Case Study of Redistricting 20 A Case Study of Redistricting 21 Arkansas Redistricting Requirements 22 Geographic Challenges with Arkansas Redistricting 25 Various Redistricting Reforms in Other States 29 Endnotes 31 How the Districts Got Their Shapes 5 Glossary bipartisan gerrymandering An uncommon form of gerrymandering where political parties work together to manipulate district boundaries to ensure mutually beneficial electoral outcomes. communities of interest Communities where voters share a common geographic location, culture, race, ethnicity, religion, or political background descriptive representation A legislature whose membership approximates the make-up of the entire population. gerrymandering The intentional manipulation of legislative district lines in order to advantage one group (and therefore disadvantage another group) in future elections. partisan gerrymandering When a political party draws legislative district lines to give their party an unfair advantage in future elections. This can lead to biased representation, where elected officials do not accurately represent an area’s actual population. racial gerrymandering When someone sets out to diminish the voting power of minorities by manipulating legislative district lines. reapportionment Simple arithmetic to determine how many people need to reside within each state legislative district. redistricting The redrawing of state legislative district lines to reflect changes over time in the numbers of people living within a certain area. This process happens following each census, which is a Constitutionally-mandated counting of all persons in the United States every 10 years. 6 Redistricting & Gerrymandering in Arkansas An Overview of Redistricting All of the United States are required to periodically and can affect every legislative district for redraw electoral boundaries in a process known all levels of government throughout the as redistricting. Redistricting is the redrawing of country. At the beginning of every decade, the state legislative district lines to reflect changes over government performs the national census, time in the numbers of people living within a certain counting the number of people throughout area. This process happens following each census, the country. A full and accurate census count, which is a Constitutionally-mandated counting of as required in the U.S. Constitution, is critical all persons in the United States every 10 years. to making fair political maps that protect the rights of every citizen. In Arkansas, our state is seeing rapid population growth in the Northwest Arkansas corridor and 2. REAPPORTIONMENT. the Central Arkansas region. Rural areas, and Once the census is complete, each state in particular the Delta, are losing population. In performs reapportionment — simple arithmetic recent years, the higher population counties in to determine how many people need to Arkansas are increasing in population, and the reside within each state legislative district. least populated counties in Arkansas are declining From a political and practical perspective, in population. Electoral districts will be redrawn reapportionment is non-controversial. For to adjust to these population shifts, putting more the Arkansas State House, the Arkansas legislative districts in the Northwest and Central Board of Apportionment takes Arkansas’s parts of the state, and fewer in the Delta and other total population and divides by 100; for the rural areas. Arkansas Senate, they take that same total population and divide by 35. This gives a These same changes are happening nationwide. target number of people who must reside At the U.S. Congressional level, fast-growing Texas in each of the legislative districts for the two and Florida have gained more Congressional seats chambers. Table 1 provides the current size of in recent decades, while the declining “Rust Belt” Arkansas’s districts, as well as the projected states of the Midwest are losing Congressional size of each district with
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