{"id":213,"date":"2021-11-02T14:30:38","date_gmt":"2021-11-02T14:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/delaware\/press-releases\/common-cause-delaware-calls-for-fully-independent-redistricting-commission\/"},"modified":"2021-11-02T14:30:38","modified_gmt":"2021-11-02T14:30:38","slug":"common-cause-delaware-calls-for-fully-independent-redistricting-commission","status":"publish","type":"press","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/delaware\/press\/common-cause-delaware-calls-for-fully-independent-redistricting-commission\/","title":{"rendered":"Common Cause Delaware Calls for \u201cFully Independent\u201d Redistricting Commission"},"template":"","class_list":["post-213","press","type-press","status-publish","hentry","press_type-press-release"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"Yesterday, the Delaware Senate and House of Representatives both approved their proposed district maps. State House and Senate maps will be sent to the Governor, who is expected to sign them into law for the next ten years. After advocating for a fair, transparent, and participatory process, Common Cause Delaware is now calling for the state to move to an independent redistricting commission model. ","featured_image":"","press_type":146,"authors":["{\"site_id\":\"43\",\"post_type\":\"person\",\"post_id\":198}"],"related_issues":[62,410],"related_work":false,"location":10},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":null,"name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":null,"component_wysiwyg":{"content":"Yesterday, the Delaware Senate and House of Representatives both approved their proposed district maps. State House and Senate maps will be sent to the Governor, who is expected to sign them into law for the next ten years. After\u00a0<\/span>advocating<\/span><\/a>\u00a0for a\u00a0<\/span>fair<\/span><\/a>, transparent<\/a>, and\u00a0<\/span>participatory<\/span><\/a>\u00a0process, Common Cause Delaware is now calling for the state to move to an independent redistricting commission model.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nThe process this year had both strengths and weaknesses. This year\u2019s redistricting cycle ended the harmful practice of prison gerrymandering. For the first time in Delaware, people in prison were counted at their permanent home addresses rather than the prison where they are temporarily housed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nIn addition, General Assembly leaders responded to public requests and created an informational website, where they posted draft maps for public review and received written testimony. They included \u201ccommunities of interest\u201d as an\u00a0essential criteria\u00a0for redistricting and convened three public hearings to allow public comment.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nHowever, the maps were difficult for the average resident to download and understand, notices for hearings were not sufficient, individuals were granted only a few minutes to share their views, which constrained public debate, and the entire redistricting process was unnecessarily rushed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n

Statement from Common Cause Delaware Executive Director Claire Snyder-Hall<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\r\nSince the beginning of the year, Common Cause Delaware (CCDE) has worked with\u00a0a number of\u00a0allied groups as part of the Delaware Fair Maps Coalition to ensure that the redistricting process would be fair, transparent, and participatory and that new districts would be drawn around communities of interest rather than the interests of politicians. While this year\u2019s redistricting process has not been perfect, we appreciate the efforts made to allow for public input.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nNow, with the process completed, CCDE asks that state leaders turn their attention to making this year\u2019s successes permanent and taking steps to remedy the shortcomings by moving to an independent redistricting commission model.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nThis year, Delaware made great strides when it comes to making redistricting more fair, transparent, and inclusive\u2014but there\u2019s still more progress to be made. It\u2019s time we\u00a0build\u00a0on our successes and\u00a0form\u00a0a fully independent redistricting commission.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nAn independent redistricting commission would transfer the power of drawing district lines from elected officials to the people. The process would minimize partisan interests, and instead focus on the best interests of the people of Delaware. To ensure the process is fair and inclusive of every voice in our state, the commission would be required to follow a set of criteria, including a certain number of public hearings, mandate avenues for public input, and ensure accessibility for limited English proficiency (LEP) and disabled Delawareans. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nCCDE applauds the General Assembly for including \u201ccommunities of interest\u201d among the essential criteria for redistricting and would like that to be added to SB 27 (currently tabled) that seeks to update the redistricting process as articulated in the Delaware Constitution.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nWe also thank the General Assembly for providing a website to keep the public apprised about the redistricting process and for convening a small number of public meetings.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nDespite these efforts, however, this year\u2019s process was less participatory than it could have been, due to the unreasonably short timeline that legislators insisted upon. Three to five business days is simply not enough time to allow people to digest the implications of the legislator drawn maps.\u00a0 Moreover, hearings that allowed only two to three minutes of discrete comments from community members did not enable a real conversation about the implications of proposed maps for voters.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nWe commend the legislature for considering community-drawn maps, however, in the end it seems that protecting incumbents \u2013 also called \u201cpreserving the cores of prior districts\u201d \u2013 ended up playing too great a role in the process. This appears to contradict the mandate in the Delaware Constitution that prohibits maps from being drawn to \u201cunduly favor any person or political party.\u201d Delaware is\u00a0actually one\u00a0of the few states that includes such a prohibition in its governing document, and it should have been a bright line in the process.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nWe would like to see the reintroduction of a bill that would establish an independent redistricting commission, such as the one sponsored by Sen. Bryan Townsend back in 2017, that passed the Senate with\u00a0bipartisan support.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nWe look forward to working with any member of the legislature interested in ensuring the future of redistricting is as fair, transparent, and inclusive as possible.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>"}}]},"yoast_head":"\nCommon Cause Delaware Calls for \u201cFully Independent\u201d Redistricting Commission - Common Cause Delaware<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/delaware\/press-releases\/common-cause-delaware-calls-for-fully-independent-redistricting-commission\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Common Cause Delaware Calls for \u201cFully Independent\u201d Redistricting Commission\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/delaware\/press\/common-cause-delaware-calls-for-fully-independent-redistricting-commission\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Common Cause Delaware\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/delaware\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/common-cause-share-image.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/delaware\/press-releases\/common-cause-delaware-calls-for-fully-independent-redistricting-commission\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/delaware\/press-releases\/common-cause-delaware-calls-for-fully-independent-redistricting-commission\/\",\"name\":\"Common Cause Delaware Calls for \u201cFully Independent\u201d Redistricting Commission - 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