Redistricting is taking place up and down the political ladder this year — shaping everything from how much say Florida will have on who's president down to who counts as your neighbor in Jacksonville.
State lawmakers have until June to create statewide voting maps, but the local redistricting deadline of April 12 is rapidly approaching, and residents have been largely omitted from the process so far.
Redistricting is meant to redraw voting districts to ensure fairer representation for each resident. In Jacksonville, that means each council member should represent about 71,000 people, after the 2020 census counted the city's roughly 1 million residents.
According to the city's charter, council has to draw maps that are arranged in a "logical and compact geographic pattern" within eight months of the census results being released.
Beyond that charge, City Council members have a fair amount of discretion in what blocks they want to represent and what blocks they don't, and their own reelection interests can come into play. The maps largely determine the balance of political power on the council and decisions that affect everyone's lives.
Most of the maps drafted so far have been done during small-group meetings of council members, with little to no public input. Last week, council's redistricting committee voted for the city's legal team to start drafting legislation on the map draft they decided on mostly amongst themselves.
But it's not too late to get involved. City Council's rules committee will hold three public meetings later this winter on how the maps should look.
Here's what you need to know.
How we got here
Of the more than 640,000 registered Duval County voters, 41% are Democrats and 35% are Republicans. City Council’s makeup is almost the opposite — just five of the 18 sitting council members are registered Democrats — and it could stay that way for the next decade.
Currently, 13 of the 18 sitting council members are registered Republicans (pending the special election to replace the late, Democratic at-large council member, Tommy Hazouri). Of the council's five Democrats, four represent the city’s minority-access districts, which have majority-Black populations and strong majority Democratic voting-age population.
The new voting districts could pack Democratic voters into just a few districts and give Republicans a greater advantage in swing districts, according to reporting by WJCT News partner The Tributary.
This is a map that favors Republicans, and compared to maps that members of the public have submitted to Daves Redistricting App, this is less proportional, less competitive, less compact and less good at promoting minority representation. pic.twitter.com/vpzXmJSIf9
— Andrew Pantazi (@apantazi) October 28, 2021
Thus far in the process, council members have given the public few opportunities to give feedback on the proposed maps. Of the seven member-to-member meetings to rework the maps over the last few months, just one included a public comment period. Most of the meetings were in the middle of weekdays, which can limit residents who would want to attend.
There were four full redistricting committee meetings, which did include public comment, but most of the details of the voting maps were worked out in the smaller group meetings.
The map proposals from those member-to-member meetings won’t be included in the council’s final legislation, after the redistricting committee voted last week to slash them from the bill council will vote on. Only maps from the four full committee meetings will be included in the bill.
Council member Brenda Priestly-Jackson said, “We talked about it all when we met, a little different than when this body needs to take some more formal action.” The drafts from those smaller group conversations are posted on the city’s redistricting website.
What comes next
The vice chair of the redistricting committee, Danny Becton, was the only council member who included public comment during a member-to-member meeting about proposed maps. He said the public should give feedback on the maps, even though all the council members have agreed on the latest draft.
The redistricting committee is required to send its draft of the maps to the city’s rules committee by Jan. 9, but they might submit their drafts early at the city’s Dec. 14 meeting.
“Now that we have some maps that are fairly static, and we'll still have an opportunity to work on them between now and our Jan. 9 date at the latest, we certainly value your input,” Becton said.
Residents can see the proposed maps online. Here are some things to consider:
- Do you think the people in your district share your interests?
- Do you feel you have been included in a district where your voice will be heard or overshadowed?
- Does your representative on council align with your political philosophy?
- Overall, does the map reflect Jacksonville's social and political makeup?
The city's rules committee will hold three public meetings about the maps to potentially adjust them based on people's feedback. Those meetings will be in December or January, depending on when the redistricting committee files legislation.
The public hearing dates are not yet set, but the public can submit questions and comments about the proposed maps now to the redistricting committee at 2021redistricting@coj.net or to their individual council members.
You can also send your questions to news@WJCT.org, and we'll seek answers before the public meetings.
