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Arkansas Redistricting Commission Initiative (2022)
| Arkansas Redistricting Commission Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 8, 2022 | |
| Topic Redistricting measures | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Arkansas Redistricting Commission Initiative was not on the ballot in Arkansas as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 8, 2022.
Overview
How was redistricting done in Arkansas as of 2022?
- See also: Background
The Arkansas General Assembly is responsible for drawing congressional district lines. Both chambers of the state legislature must approve a single redistricting plan. The governor may veto the lines drawn by the state legislature.[1]
Arkansas' state legislative district lines are drawn by a politician commission, the Arkansas Board of Apportionment. The commission comprises the governor, the secretary of state, and the attorney general.[1]
The Arkansas Constitution requires that Arkansas State Senate district lines be "contiguous, and that they follow county lines except where necessary to comply with other legal requirements." There are no such requirements in place for congressional districts.[1]
Arkansas was apportioned four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2020 census, the same number it received after the 2010 census.
What would the constitutional amendment have changed?
- See also: Measure design
This measure would create the Citizens' Redistricting Commission for state legislative and congressional redistricting. The commission would be comprised of nine commissioners who are registered Arkansas voters. The measure would restrict individuals from serving if they were, within the last 5 years, an elected official; appointed federal or state official; lobbyist or employee of a lobbyist; political party officer; employee of a political action committee, campaign committee, or political party; or if they were the spouse, child, parent, or sibling (by blood or marriage) of any such individuals. The measure would establish criteria for drawing district maps. All meetings of the commission would be advertised and open to the public. The Arkansas Secretary of State would be required to electronically publish the commission's maps. The initiative provides for interim redistricting no later than November 1, 2023; and then November 1 thereafter following each decennial federal census (to be held for the next time in 2030 with reapportionment following in 2031).[2]
Measure design
This measure would have created the Citizens' Redistricting Commission for state legislative and congressional redistricting. The commission would have been comprised of nine commissioners who were registered Arkansas voters.
Restrictions on who may serve as a commissioner
The measure would have restricted individuals from serving if they were, within the last 5 years, an elected official; appointed federal or state official; lobbyist or employee of a lobbyist; political party officer; employee of a political action committee, campaign committee, or political party; or if they were the spouse, child, parent, or sibling (by blood or marriage) of any such individuals. The measure would have established criteria for drawing district maps. All meetings of the commission would have been advertised and open to the public. The Arkansas Secretary of State would have been required to electronically publish the commission's maps.[2]
Selection of commissioners
By January 1, 2023, and then by December 1 of the U.S. census years in the future, the Arkansas Supreme Court Chief Justice would have been required to appoint a panel of three for the purpose of selecting commissioners. The three panelists would have been selected from retired state supreme court justices, court of appeals judges, and circuit court judges. By January 15, 2023, and each January 15 in the year following the U.S. census, the Arkansas Secretary of State would have created an application to serve as a commissioner and advertise it statewide. Applications would have been accepted through March 1, 2023, and through March 1 in each year following the federal census, with initial selections made by the panel by April 1. The panel, in a majority decision, would have selected 90 applicants as follows:[2]
- 30 applicants affiliated with the political party having the largest number of representatives in the Arkansas General Assembly;
- 30 applicants affiliated with the political party having the second-largest number of representatives in the state assembly;
- 30 applicants affiliated with other political parties or no political party.
The commission would have been required to make efforts to ensure that the pools are geographically and demographically representative of the state's population.[2]
The panel would have published the names and applications of each of the 90 selected applicants. Within 10 days, the following five individuals would have been allowed to eliminate up to two applicants from each of the three pools, thereby eliminating a total of 30 applicants:[2]
- the governor;
- the parliamentary leader of the political party with the largest number of representatives in the House;
- the parliamentary leader of the political party with the second-largest number of representatives in the House;
- the parliamentary leader of the political party with the largest number of representatives in the Senate; and
- the parliamentary leader of the political party with the second-largest number of representatives in the Senate.
After eliminations, the panel would have randomly selected three applicants remaining in each pool for a total of nine commissioners. Random selections would have continued to occur, if necessary, so as to result in each of the state's four U.S. congressional districts being represented by at least one commissioner from the district. Final selections of commissioners would have needed to be made by May 1.[2]
Commissioners would have been reimbursed for expenses incurred related to the commission's duties and per diem up to $200 unless increased by the state legislature. The state legislature would have been required to appropriate funds for the commission to carry out its duties totaling at least $750,000.[2]
Selection of maps
Maps would have required the approval of at least six of the nine members, (a two-thirds (66.67%) vote), including at least two commissioners from each of the three pools. Maps would have needed to be constructed so as to have similar total populations among each federal congressional district to be established. For state legislative districts, populations could not have varied by more than 3% from the total population of the state according to the census divided by the total number of districts to be created for each chamber.[2]
The commission would have been required to create three different maps for federal districts and state house and senate districts. The amendment would have required districts not to "unduly favor or disfavor any political party" when viewed on a statewide basis. Commissioners would have been tasked with creating maps using the following criteria, with the most important criteria first, as follows:[2]
- districts shall be contiguous, bounded by an unbroken line, and consisting of undivided components that connect at more than a single point;
- districts shall not deny or abridge the right to vote on account of race or language;
- districts shall not divide counties or cities unless necessary to meet other requirements under the amendment;
- districts shall be reasonably compact;
- districts shall promote competition among political parties, where reasonably feasible after satisfaction of the preceding criteria.
The commission would have needed to conduct at least one hearing in each congressional district and publicly release the district maps for public comment at least 30 days prior to the hearing. All maps would have needed to have an accompanying report explaining the commission's reasoning behind the districts.[2]
Final maps would have needed to be certified to the secretary of state by November 1 and would have taken effect unless a petition for review was filed with the state supreme court within 30 days of certification. If the supreme court mandated changes to the maps, the commission would have needed to certify revisions to the secretary of state and such maps would have taken effect within 30 days.[2]
Text of measure
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Background
Issue 4 of 2020
The 2022 initiative is nearly identical to Arkansas Issue 4, Redistricting Commission Amendment (2020), an initiated constitutional amendment targeting the 2020 ballot. The measure was certified for the ballot on August 21, 2020. Secretary of State John Thurston found on July 14 that signatures for the initiative were insufficient, but provisionally certified both measures for the ballot "for coding purposes and preparation purposes only, pending the outcome of the litigation." Thurston determined that signatures that were submitted on July 6 for the initiative were insufficient under § 7-9-601(b)(3), which requires sponsors to certify that canvassers passed background checks. Arkansas Voters First (sponsors of the 2020 redistricting measure) submitted certifications stating that the background checks were acquired, but did not say they were passed. On August 27, 2020, The Arkansas Supreme Court blocked both measures from appearing on the ballot. To read more about the lawsuit, click here.
Redistricting in Arkansas
Arkansas' four United States representatives and 135 state legislators are all elected from political divisions called districts. Redistricting is the process of drawing new congressional and state legislative district boundaries.
Going into the 2020 general election, the Arkansas General Assembly was responsible for drawing federal congressional district lines. Both chambers of the state legislature must approve a single redistricting plan. The governor may veto the lines drawn by the state legislature.[1]
Arkansas' state legislative district lines are drawn by a politician commission, the Arkansas Board of Apportionment. The commission is composed of the governor, the secretary of state, and the attorney general.[1]
The Arkansas Constitution requires that Arkansas State Senate district lines be "contiguous, and that they follow county lines except where necessary to comply with other legal requirements." There are no such requirements in place for congressional districts.[1]
Methods of redistricting in U.S.
In general, states vest one of the following three entities with redistricting authority:[3]
- State legislatures: In 37 of the 43 states required to conduct congressional redistricting, state legislatures have the final authority to draft and implement congressional district maps.[4] Likewise, in 37 of the 50 states, state legislatures are primarily responsible for state legislative redistricting. In these states, legislatures typically adopt district lines by a simple majority vote in each chamber. A state's governor may usually veto the legislature's redistricting plan.[5]
- Independent commissions: The composition of independent redistricting commissions varies from state to state. However, in all cases, the direct participation of elected officials is limited. Independent redistricting commissions exist in six states (in four of these states, independent commissions draw congressional and state legislative boundaries; in two, independent commissions draw only state legislative district boundaries).
- Politician commissions: The composition of politician redistricting commissions varies from state to state. For example, in some states, specific officials (e.g., governors, secretaries of state, etc.) are de facto commission members; in others, legislative leaders appoint other legislators to serve as commissioners. In all cases, elected officials may participate directly by sitting on the commissions. In two of the 43 states required to conduct congressional redistricting, politician commissions are responsible for drawing the maps. In seven states, politician commissions are responsible for state legislative redistricting.
Procedures for congressional redistricting in U.S.
Most states are required to draw new congressional district lines every 10 years following completion of United States Census (those states comprising one congressional district are not required to redistrict). In 33 of these states, state legislatures play the dominant role in congressional redistricting. In nine states, commissions draw congressional district lines. In two states, hybrid systems are used, in which the legislatures share redistricting authority with commissions. The remaining states comprise one congressional district each, rendering redistricting unnecessary. See the map and table below for further details.[6][7]
Procedures for state legislative redistricting in U.S.
In 34 of the 50 states, state legislatures play the dominant role in state legislative redistricting. Commissions draw state legislative district lines in 14 states. In two states, hybrid systems are used, in which state legislature share redistricting authority with commissions. See the map and table below for further details.[6][7][8]
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Arkansas, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated constitutional amendment for the ballot is equal to 10 percent of the votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. Proponents must collect signatures equaling at least half of the designated percentage of gubernatorial votes in at least 50 of the state's counties. Signatures remain valid until the date of the next general election following the certification of ballot language. Signature petitions must be submitted four months prior to the election at which the measure is to appear.
The requirements to get initiated constitutional amendments certified for the 2022 ballot:
- Signatures: 89,151 valid signatures
- Deadline: July 8, 2022—four months prior to the election
If the secretary of state certifies that enough signatures were submitted in a petition, the initiative is put on the ballot. If a petition fails to meet the signature requirement, but the petition has at least 75 percent of the valid signatures needed, petitioners have 30 days to collect additional signatures or demonstrate that rejected signatures are valid.
Details about this initiative
- Arkansas People Not Politicians filed the measure.[9]
- Proponents did not publish the initiative in a statewide newspaper (a prerequisite to submitting signatures) before the deadline on June 8, 2022, therefore the initiative did not qualify for the ballot.[10][11][12]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 All About Redistricting, "Arkansas," accessed April 20, 2015
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 AR People Not Politicians, "Full measure," accessed January 7, 2021
- ↑ All About Redistricting, "Who draws the lines?" accessed June 19, 2017
- ↑ Seven states contain only one congressional district each, rendering congressional redistricting unnecessary.
- ↑ All About Redistricting, "Who draws the lines?" accessed March 25, 2015
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 All About Redistricting, "National Summary," accessed July 29, 2024
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 The American Redistricting Project, "State," accessed July 29, 2024
- ↑ NCSL, "Redistricting Commissions: State Legislative Plans," December 10, 2021
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs nameduni - ↑ Arkansas.gov, "2022 Initiative and Referendum Handbook," accessed June 17, 2022
- ↑ Magnolia Reporter, "Deadline looms over Arkansas ballot issue groups," accessed June 17, 2022
- ↑ Ballotpedia Staff, Communication with David Couch, June 17, 2022]
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State of Arkansas Little Rock (capital) |
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