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Minnesota redistricting efforts earn a mere passing grade, calls for more representation [1]

['Nafi Soumare', 'More From Author', '- October']

Date: 2023-10-13  

A group that evaluates the 50 states’ redistricting systems recently released a “report card” for Minnesota. The verdict? C+.

The Coalition Hub for Advancing Redistricting & Grassroots Engagement, or CHARGE, assesses redistricting efforts across the country, rating states based on hundreds of interviews and surveys with community members. Minnesota’s redistricting efforts in this latest cycle were largely graded on representation for communities of color.

Unlike current litigation in Alabama and elsewhere, gerrymandering — the intentional “cracking,” or “packing,” of POC communities into constituencies in a way that undermines their voting power — is not being alleged here. The issue, CHARGE says, is Minnesotans’ refusal to draw up congressional and legislative districts from scratch.

Minnesota has a lengthy history of failed efforts at redistricting, which is the process after the decennial census of redrawing the boundaries of congressional and legislative districts to reflect population and demographic change.

Minnesota lawmakers have not successfully updated district maps without court intervention since 1881.

Common Cause, a good government advocacy group, is calling for an independent redistricting commission in Minnesota. They’re working with a coalition of other grassroots organizations and social activists on a self-led redistricting effort called OurMapsMN.

With the Legislature again stalemated on new maps in 2021, a five-judge special redistricting panel appointed by the Minnesota Supreme Court held 10 public hearings over 15 days. Four plaintiffs groups were heard, but only one of the four groups, the Corrie plaintiffs, expressed concern for the representation of communities of color in the process of redistricting.

Minnesota was ranked No. 17 on the ranking of all 50 states’ redistricting systems. CHARGE cites “judicial conservatism,” as the main drawback to Minnesota’s maps. This refers to the practice of instituting “least change” maps. The judiciary, which is often loath to entangle itself in the politics of other branches, has consistently drawn maps in Minnesota that are as similar as possible to the last round of maps, though adjusted for population as constitutionally required.

CHARGE calls on Minnesota to mandate that new districts be drawn up from scratch, inhibiting the least-change philosophy. As CHARGE notes, the current maps are largely unchanged despite significant demographic change.

The Corrie plaintiffs proposed new redistricting rules that would have unified communities of color, merging two Latino districts in St. Paul and West St. Paul and allocating 22 Senate seats for people of color. Three reservations — Red Lake Nations, White Earth, and Leech Lake — would have been merged to represent one district.

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[1] Url: https://minnesotareformer.com/2023/10/13/minnesota-redistricting-efforts-earn-a-mere-passing-grade-calls-for-more-representation/

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