Redistricting Facts
What is redistricting?
Redistricting is the process of redrawing political district boundaries. D istrict boundaries are realigned to accommodate population increases and decreases within the city.
Why do we have to redistrict?
Redistricting is done to ensure that every Midway citizen is represented fairly in the City Council. The U.S. and state constitutions require that each district be represented by an equal number of people to ensure fair distribution of political power. Births, deaths and migration contribute to citywide and district population shifts. Redistricting adjusts political boundaries to reflect these changes .
Why is redistricting important?
Representatives to the U S. Congress, state legislatures or city council are elected to represent the interests of the people in the district that they represent. Elected officials will vote for or against proposed laws depending on how these laws will affect their district. For instance, if a district consists of a majority of males and growth in the city showed that there was a significant increase in the number of females in the city. The districts would need to be redrawn in order to have equal representation of both men and women on the city council. Therefore, it is important that districts are composed of neighborhoods that have similar amounts of men and women rather than conflicting ones to ensure that issues important to females are not ignored.
How Many People Will Each City District Have?
458
There are five city districts. While the city has seven council members, there are only five districts. Two of the city's council members represent the entire city, not just one district. There are currently 2,290 people who live in Midway. Since 2000, the City of Midway's population has increased 23.7 percent. As a result of the increased number of people living in the city, each city council members has to have at least 458 people, (plus or minus 45 people) living in their district.
Who is responsible for Redistricting in Midway?
The City of Midway Redistricting Steering Committee is the committee responsible for preparing a city district plan. On October 2, 2008 , the City Council appointed the Redistricting Steering Committee. The Council appointed one member from each District of the City as recommended by the Councilmember from that District.
The six-member committee must submit a redistricting plan to the City Council for approval no later than November 13, 2008. The new districts will be used beginning with the 2009 city elections.
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The committee members for redistricting 2008 include:
Steering Committee Members
- Councilwoman Ella Barber, Chair
- Margie Vactor
- Irene Lawson
- Roosevelt Morris
- Shawana Lamb
- Joyce Johnson
The committee is being supported by KMR Consulting. The consulting team is being led by Linda Dilworth. Their telephone number is (850) 681-3571.
How does the Committee adopt a redistricting plan?
A redistricting plan must be approved by a majority of the voting Committee members. This plan becomes final unless it is amended by the City Council.
What factors are considered in drawing district lines?
• Race can not be the predominant factor, but can be one of the factors
• Protecting incumbents to maintain their constituent base
• Communities of Interest—neighborhoods having issues like socioeconomic factors, culture, language, ethnicity, shared subway lines, occupations, income, housing and political issues in common.
• Compactness—geographically concentrated
• Contiguity—neighborhoods in a district are linked and not geographically separate from one another
• Respect for political subdivisions
• Compliance with voting rights laws
