Redistricters lay out procedures

Population takes first priority

Representatives of the Arkansas Board of Apportionment told a group Tuesday that when it comes to redistricting, the state’s constitution requires the population count to be the main priority over community interests and economics.

Betty Dickey, coordinator of the Board of Apportionment and former Arkansas chief justice, told those who attended the hearing, held at the University of Arkansas in Hope, that the maps board staff members have been presenting to the public over the past few weeks will be modified when the official 2020 U.S. Census data comes in.

Sen. Trent Garner, R-El Dorado, asked the Board of Apportionment how many legislative seats they anticipate south Arkansas losing once the redistricting process gets underway.

Kevin Niehaus, spokesman for the secretary of state’s office, said it was difficult to answer that question without the exact 2020 numbers, but based on 2019 census data used for projections, it appears across the state that three House seats and one Senate seat will be moved.

“Depending on where those seats are, you can potentially reconfigure based on which seats get moved up,” he said. “Northwest Arkansas it looks like three House seats and one Senate seat. We don’t know yet where those are coming from yet. I can’t say they are coming from the south. It really depends on when we get the numbers and when we start fiddling with the maps.”

A couple of audience members asked if factors like economy and community interests were considered during the redistricting process.

Former Rep. Doug House, a representative for the attorney general’s office, told the audience that there has been discussion for many years about using other data like projected growth, projected loss and economic data, but under the state constitution, the apportionment board can use only the data that is provided by the U.S. Census Bureau.

“The board is not allowed to project what might happen or what might not happen in any particular area,” House said. “That is under our constitution and once the data is released, the way the constitution reads, that is what the board has to use, is that data provided by the U.S. Census.”

Andres Rhodes, a representative for the Gov. Asa Hutchinson office, also said the the data that must be used isn’t very granular when it comes down to which communities are similar.

“That is why public comment is helpful, so this why we are having these meetings, but as Rep. House said, we have to go by this data,” he said. “So if it says that x number of people live in this town and x number of people in this town and that exceeds the number of people that can be in a House district, then you might not be able to put them together.”

Dickey said Arkansas residents will have the opportunity for input once they begin the redistricting process.

“We hope after we start the process of redrawing the maps, we will be able to present them to you through [Arkansas] PBS or in other public venues and they will be posted online, so you will have opportunity to have input again once we start the drawing process,” she said.

Shelby Johnson, geographic information officer for the Arkansas Geographic Information Systems, said that in 2010 the Board of Apportionment had from February until July to work on redistricting, but because of the lateness of the census information, the board this year is under a time crunch.

“This time around here we are almost in the middle of August and the state is yet to receive the full 2020 block file, obviously that compresses the timeline that we are under and the board has set the goal to have that work completed by Dec. 31,” he said.

“Depending on where those seats are, you can potentially reconfigure based on which seats get moved up.”

— Kevin Niehaus, spokesman for the secretary of state’s office