Keeping in touch April 14

by Pat Ingraham
| April 15, 2010 12:12 PM

With the 2010 Decennial Census actively underway in each and every community, it's important to know the Census numbers will play a large part in another process which will impact Montanans and their communities, Reapportionment and Redistricting.

Reapportionment and Redistricting in Montana has been in place since 1972. When the framers of the state Constitution addressed problems associated with redistricting in Montana, they knew they had to create a framework to take the process out of the hands of the Legislature, where partisanship and rural-urban scuffles had made it impossible to properly reapportion the state. The new constitution created an autonomous, five-member commission of private citizens to reapportion the state every ten years in conjunction with the federal census.

The districting and apportionment process divides the state into as many districts as there are members of the House of Representatives, and each district shall elect one representative. So, since we have a lower house (the House of Representatives) with one hundred members, the state is apportioned such that there are one hundred House districts. Then, in order to establish the upper house, the State Senate, two adjoining House districts are combined to form a Senate district from which one senator is elected. The process ensures that each district is composed of compact and contiguous territory and that all districts are nearly equal in population as is practicable. That was the intent of reapportionment and redistricting. The history of the process isn't nearly so neat.

The process directs that in the legislative session following ratification of the 1972 Montana Constitution and thereafter in each session preceding each federal population census, a commission of five citizens, none of whom may be public officials, shall be selected to prepare a plan for redistricting and reapportioning the state into legislative districts and a plan for redistricting the state into congressional districts. The majority and minority leaders of each House shall each designate one commissioner. Within twenty days after their designation, the four commissioners shall select the fifth member, who shall serve as chairman of the commission. If the four members fail to select the fifth member within the time prescribed, a majority of the Supreme Court shall select the fifth member. And that's when the trouble starts. Historically, the fifth member has sided with either the majority or minority and skewed the results of the process. In the 1990s, the Democrats complained that the redistricting favored Republicans. Then in 2000, the Republicans claimed the new redistricting favored Democrats. Perhaps this time neither party will feel put upon.

Within 90 days after the official final decennial census figures are available, the commission shall file its final plan for Congressional districts with the secretary of state and it shall become law. Of course, since we only are permitted one Representative, there's not a problem associated with drawing up Congressional districts since the whole state is the district. However, the commission also submits its plan for legislative districts. That plan is submitted to the legislature at the first regular session after the commission's appointment or after the census figures are available. Within 30 days after submission, the legislature shall return the plan to the commission with its recommendations. Within 30 days thereafter, the commission shall file its final plan for legislative districts with the Secretary of State and it shall become law. Upon filing both plans, the commission is then dissolved in accordance to Article V, Section14.

Regarding reapportionment and redistricting, there are mandatory criteria provided in state and federal law as well as discretionary criteria the Commission may adopt. The Commission must adopt the mandatory criteria, but then determines how to define the implementation of the mandatory criteria. Mandatory Criteria includes: (1) population equality - legislative districts must be nearly equal as practicable where practicable means "that which can be done"; (2) each district shall consist of a compact and contiguous territory; (3) protection of minority (Native American) rights and compliance with Voting Rights Act; and, (4) race cannot be the predominate factor to which traditional redistricting criteria are subordinated. Discretionary Criteria for the commission to consider could include: (1) lines of political units and subdivisions; (2) geographic/physical boundaries such as mountains, rivers, and roads; (3) keeping communities of interest intact; (4) usage of current legislative district boundaries to be used for guidance; (5) what population equality standard should be used such as keeping the deviation percentage very low, by using something stricter which more closely follows the Montana Constitution; and (6) what kind of compact and contiguous standards should be utilized in drawing the districts.

Public involvement is imperative in this redistricting process to ensure the process is fair, non-partisan and that it protects everyone's right to vote. Public participation will ensure our basic right to "one man one vote," especially during this time when the Redistricting Commission is developing the criteria to be used in developing the new legislative districts.

The four Commission members appointed by the majority and minority leaders are Jon Bennion and Linda Vaughley appointed by Senator Jim Peterson and Representative Scott Sales and Joe Lamson and Pat Smith appointed by Senator Carol Williams and Representative Margaret Campbell. The fifth member is Jim Regnier who was appointed by the Montana Supreme Court. They've scheduled four hearings during the month of April to receive public input. Two of those hearings are left, one on April 19th in Billings with a videoconference link in Miles City and the other on April 27th in Helena for executive action. While opportunities to attend the public hearings are limited, the committee is accepting written correspondence and testimony. If interested, you may direct your written comments to: Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission, c/o Rachel Weiss, Legislative Services, PO Box 201706, Helena, Montana 59620-1706 or by fax at 406-444-3036 or via email at rweiss@mt.gov.

Now it is your turn to "Keep in Touch" by contacting me regarding your questions or concerns. I can be reached via e-mail at pathd13@blackfoot.net, or call me at 827-4652 or by mail at P.O. Box 1151, Thompson Falls, Montana 59873.