The Alaska Redistricting Board will hold a public hearing on plans to redraw boundaries of the state’s legislative districts beginning 1-3 p.m. Wednesday at the public library.
Southeast Alaska stands to lose legislative districts, due to a regional drop in population and gains in Southcentral. Redistricting is required every decade, using federal census information.
The Haines Borough Assembly in early April endorsed a redistricting map similar to one developed by Alaskans for Fair and Equitable Redistricting, a private group led by Randy Ruedrich, head of Alaska’s Republican Party.
Democrats in Haines, including attorney Deborah Vogt, have criticized that plan for splitting Sitka in half and for not being compact or contiguous. Assemblymen supporting it said it met the borough’s goal of being in a House district separate from Juneau.
At least two other plans – a draft by the redistricting board and a private proposal from Juneau – keep Haines separate from Juneau.
The state redistricting board has adopted draft redistricting plans for the purpose of soliciting public comment before adopting a final plan. Two of the plans are statewide plans prepared by the board that differ only in the configuration of state senate district pairings.
The board also adopted alternative plans for Southeast Alaska and the Mat-Su region that can fit with either of its statewide plans. All draft plans adopted by the board can be downloaded at http://www.akredistricting.org.
Board chair John Torgerson said the group worked to protect Alaska Native voting rights while providing fair and equal legislative representation.
Torgerson said he believed the board’s draft plans achieve lower population deviation ranges than previous redistricting plans.
The board was required by the Alaska Constitution to adopt a draft plan or plans by April 15. After receipt of the redistricting data, it held hearings in Anchorage, Bethel, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan, Kotzebue and Wasilla in addition to a statewide teleconference on March 31 to solicit public opinion.
The board began drafting redistricting plans in public work sessions at its Anchorage office on April 4. One of its first actions was to formally state their intention to draft a plan that included nine Alaska Native-influenced districts.
The board said this was done to comply with the Voting Rights Act requirement of avoiding retrogression when drafting new redistricting plans. Retrogression occurs when redistricting is drawn in a manner that worsens minority voting strength as compared to the previous plan.
In order to solicit a full range of opinions from Alaskans, the Board also adopted plans submitted by private groups including Alaskans for Fair Redistricting, Alaskans for Fair and Equitable Redistricting and the Rights Coalition; regional plans from the Alaska Legislature’s Bush Caucus, and the City and Borough of Juneau; and single district plans from the City of Valdez and the Bristol Bay Borough.
The board does not endorse any of these plans and did not attempt to verify the accuracy or legality of any private plans.
The current series of public hearings around Alaska will end with a statewide teleconference May 6. The board will then begin meeting in public work sessions on May 16 to draft a final plan for adoption by June 13, 2011.
Draft plans are subject to revision before the board adopts a final plan.