Redistricting at the City Level

Steps to help keep you in line and out of court

by Kurt Spitzer

In terms of redistricting, the attention of many Floridians is focused on the actions of the state Legislature as they work on the redistricting process for Florida’s House, Senate and Congressional districts based on the 2020 data from the U.S. Census Bureau. But many municipal governments are altering their district boundaries as well.

Some city charters provide that municipal elections follow the schedule used by the state and county governments. Those cities should be wrapping up the redistricting process now. But other charters provide for their own schedule, and for those cities that have not yet redistricted their council or commission districts, they should determine the need to realign their district boundaries to equalize populations and ensure compliance with the principle of “one person, one vote.”

Equalizing the district population is accomplished by changing one or more boundaries of council districts within a city so that each district has a population that is roughly equal to one another while ensuring that other legal requirements are met.

Although delivered almost five months late, the 2020 census data has been available since August 2021 and is presumed to be accurate. (Access census data at bit.ly/3onaz2J.) Within the confines of statutes, case law and your city’s charter, redistricting is the prerogative and duty of the legislative body of the city. It’s the city council or commission that has the authority to make adjustments to its district boundaries.

The local redistricting process need not be characterized by a contentious, heated debate that spills into the courts, as it sometimes is at other levels of government. By following a few simple procedures and using generally accepted criteria, your city can redistrict itself in a smooth process.

LET OPENNESS BE YOUR GUIDE

All actions taken by municipal officials are subject to Florida’s Sunshine Law and public records laws. But extra efforts should be made in the redistricting process to ensure that it is transparent and solicits input from residents.

Plan well-publicized workshop meetings on redistricting of the council, possibly hold special meetings to solicit input from the public and use the city’s website to keep residents informed.

FOLLOW ESTABLISHED CRITERIA

The ultimate decision concerning the new district boundaries will be made by the city council or commission. However, following established criteria will help ensure a smooth process that is understood and accepted by the community, is accomplished on time and stays out of the judicial system.

1. Equal population – Districts should be as nearly equal in population as is possible or practicable. While it is impossible to have districts that are precisely equal in population, an initial policy goal should be to set a deviation from the average district size that is as small as possible. A deviation of less than 3% over or under the average is usually a good target.

Note that “population” does not mean registered voters but all people counted by the Census Bureau. In some cases, the voting age population may be used instead of the total population and convicted felons residing in a state or federal prison within the city may be excluded from population counts.

Two districts with a difference in population of more than 10 percentage points (e.g., the largest district’s population is 7% over the average and the smallest is 5% under) may raise a “red flag” with the courts. In such cases, adjustments to district boundaries must be made, or the underlying public policy necessitating such a deviation should be well-documented.

2. Minority voting strength – The districting plan must not dilute the voting strength of minorities.

Two common ways that minority voting strength is diluted and should be avoided are:

▸ Packing – Locating most of a minority population into a single district to dilute their influence in other districts.

▸ Cracking – Splitting the minority population into two or more districts to dilute their influence in all districts.

3. Census blocks – Cities should use the data provided by the Census Bureau. This information is the most recent that is readily available and is presumed to be correct. The smallest unit of information available from the Bureau is “census blocks.” While the census data is the best we have, there may be glitches that are apparent only to local officials or to persons familiar with redistricting software, so check for anomalies in the data.

4. District shape and boundaries – While following the primary criteria as described above, the objective should be to develop a districting system that is logical, easy for voters to understand and preserves communities of interest. Here are four commonsense guidelines to follow:

▸ Bizarre shapes – Avoid them! Serpentine or other extreme shapes with no valid underlying public policy objective should be avoided. They tend to raise a red flag with the courts. Generally, the more compact a district, the better.

▸ Existing boundaries – Recognize them. Attempting to keep the new boundaries as similar as possible to the old boundaries is easier for the electors to understand and lessens the workload of the Supervisor of Elections.

▸ Significant geographic features – District boundaries should follow significant human-made or natural boundaries, such as primary roads and major bodies of water.

▸ Neighborhoods – The redistricting plan should try to preserve neighborhoods by not splitting them into two or more districts.

STEPS OF THE PROCESS

The first step is to “layer” the current district boundaries on top of the new census data. An analysis may show that no boundary adjustments are required. If such is the case, develop a record, readopt the boundaries, and you’re done!

If the new data shows a significant imbalance, discuss and adopt your criteria or guidelines, develop a plan for garnering public input, prepare your draft maps, and plan for your public hearings.

The process of reviewing alternative maps and redistricting plans is a “back and forth” or iterative process. One, two or several alternative maps that are legally sufficient can be presented for public review and comment. As input is received, you may narrow the alternatives down to one or two for final consideration.

A knowledgeable, impartial facilitator is important in ensuring a successful redistricting process. Some cities use internal staff, while others elect to use an outside consultant to fulfill this role.

A transparent, public process is key to adopting your new district boundaries in a manner that is based on consensus and avoids challenges in court.

Kurt Spitzer is President of Kurt Spitzer and Associates, a local government consulting firm based in Tallahassee. He may be reached at 850.228.6212. More information about city redistricting is available at ksanet.net.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON CITY REDISTRICTING

See these Florida League of Cities webinars:

▸ Redistricting and the 2020 Census. bit.ly/3dBWzvM.

▸ Redrawing Council Districts: The Law and Best Practices. bit.ly/3I3Q0zm.