Redistricting in Delaware after the 2010 census
 in Delaware |
| Note: Redistricting takes place every 10 years after completion of the United States Census. The information here pertains to the 2010 redistricting process. For information on more recent redistricting developments, see this article. |
| Redistricting in Delaware | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Partisan control: Democrat | |
| Process: Legislative authority | |
| Deadline: June 30, 2011 | |
| Total seats | |
| Congress: 1 | |
| State Senate: 21 | |
| State House: 41 | |
This article details the timeline of redistricting events in Delaware following the 2010 census. It also provides contextual information about the redistricting process and census information.
Process
- See also: State-by-state redistricting procedures
During the 2010 redistricting cycle, the Delaware General Assembly was responsible for redistricting.
The criteria for determining district boundaries was in Section 804 of Title 29, Chapter 8 of the Delaware Code. It stated that all districts must, as much as possible, meet the following four criteria:[1]
- Be formed of contiguous territory;
- Be nearly equal in population;
- Be bounded by major roads, streams or other natural boundaries; and
- Not be created so as to unduly favor any person or political party.
The Delaware Constitution originally set out details on the composition of the House and Senate in Sections 2 and 2A of Article II. These sections were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of the United States on June 15, 1964. Following that ruling, the composition of the General Assembly became regulated by statute.
Transparency
On March 23, 2011, the Delaware State Senate unanimously passed a resolution to include open meetings and public feedback in the redistricting process.[2]
Sen. Anthony DeLuca introduced SB 50, with the stated goal of opening all aspects of redistricting to the public. State law required public hearings, but maps had mostly been drawn out of the public's view.[3] The Senate voted 21-0 to approve the bill. Under the measure, all proceedings and internal communication related to redistricting would fall under the Freedom of Information Act.[4]
Prisoner count in redistricting
In 2011, Delaware, along with Maryland and New York, was set to alter how they counted their prison populations for redistricting purposes. For the first time, prisoners were to be counted according to their last known addresses, rather than their prison address.
James Whitehorne, assistant chief of the Census Bureau's Redistricting Data Office, said, "It'll be an interesting process to watch and see if they're successful. I do think it will be difficult to do."[5]
In March 2011, the Federal Bureau of Prisons denied Maryland's request for prior residence information on prisoners, citing privacy protections. Despite the state's new law, this forced Maryland to count the prisoners in the district with the prison.[6]
Delaware legislators announced in early May their intentions to ignore their 2010 law altering how prisoners were counted, not due to lack of information from the FBI, but because of cost and time constraints. Rep. Peter Schwartzkopf stated the maker of Maptitude, the computer software used to redraw districts, said it would cost $40,000 to $75,000 and two months to alter the program to account for prisoners differently. Peter Wagner, executive director of the Prison Policy Initiative, said lawmakers should have begun earlier, stating, "The frustrating thing about Delaware is this bill was implementable, and it appears they didn't start focusing on the challenges early enough."[7]
On May 10, 2011, the House passed legislation by a 36-3 vote that exempted the state from having to adhere to the 2010 law regarding prisoners.[8] According to House Majority Leader Peter Schwartzkopf (D), the Census Bureau did not have data listing last known address of prisoners. Additionally, the software used for redistricting could not integrate prisoners' prior addresses and would have cost at least $70,000 more to properly equip the program. As a result of the legislation, the new procedure for counting prisoners would instead take effect with 2020 redistricting.[9]
Leadership
The redistricting of House districts was to be led by Rep. Peter Schwartzkopf (D), lead House attorney William G. Bush IV, and House Democratic Chief of Staff Erik Schramm.[10]
Census results
On March 1, 2011, the Census Bureau shipped Delaware's local census data to the governor and legislative leaders. This data was used to guide redistricting for state and local offices. The data was publicly available for download.[11]
Population changes
These tables show the change in population in the five largest incorporated places and the three counties in Delaware from 2000-2010.[12]
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Congressional redistricting
Delaware had only one U.S. House seat, and therefore did not require any map changes. The entire state was one district.
Legislative redistricting
House Democrats accepted public comments on a redistricting plan until April 29, 2011. Their draft plan was subjected to a public hearing in May before a final plan was drawn up. House Republicans also worked on their own plan.[13]
With majorities in the Senate and House, Democrats controlled the redistricting process, although Republicans did construct a counter-proposal to Democratic maps.
Deviation of House/Senate districts from ideal
These tables show the top five state House and Senate districts that deviated from the 2010 ideal population. The 2010 ideal population was 21,900 for House districts and 42,759 for the Senate.[14]
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House map
On May 17, 2011, the minority caucus of Republicans in the House released their proposal (see Figure 1) for the state's 41 districts. On May 19, House Democrats released their proposed redistricting map. A public hearing was held on May 26 at 7 p.m.[15] The Democratic caucus' proposal would have folded the existing 11th and 20th House districts into neighboring districts. The surrounding districts were between 2,800 and 3,000 below the ideal population size.
According to Peter Schwartzkopf (D), House Majority Leader, the two maps were similar. One difference he pointed out was that the Democratic proposal had four majority-minority districts while the Republicans plan had two. According to House Minority Leader Gregory Lavelle (R), the population changes dictated moving districts from the northern part of the state to the south. The map appeared to allow for a possible two-seat gain for Republicans.[16]
Republicans were displeased with the initial map, as it would have pitted two incumbent Republican representatives -- Joseph Miro and Nico Manolakos in the same district.[17] The Senate plan would have put David Sokola (D) and Liane Sorenson (R) into the same district.[18]
The House passed its redistricting map on June 28, 2011, on a party-line vote. House Majority Leader Pete Schwartzkopf said that no substantial changes were made to the map after public hearings were held. Of the 15 Republican House members, 10 voted no and 5 did not vote. Schwartzkopf said he was not surprised by the Republican vote against the map.[19]
Senate map
On June 2, 2011, the Senate took public comments in a forum on its redistricting process.[20]
The Senate map was approved on June 30, 2011, by a 15-6 vote. Two districts were merged in the northern part of the state in order to make room for a new southern district.[21][22]
Partisan Registration by District
Congressional Districts in November 2010
| Partisan Registration and Representation by Congressional District, 2010[23] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Congressional district | Republicans | Democrats | Unaffiliated | District total | Party advantage* | 111th Congress | 112th Congress | |
| 1 (Statewide, at-large) | 183,301 | 293,415 | 146,709 | 623,425 | 60.07% Democratic | |||
| *The partisan registration advantage was computed as the gap between the two major parties in registered voters. | ||||||||
Timeline
The Legislature was required to adopt a redistricting plan by June 30, 2011.[24]
History
Delaware's original constitution, adopted in 1776, provided for an equal number of representatives from each county. Representation based on population did not begin until the constitution of 1897.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Baker v. Carr (1962), the apportionment of Delaware's legislature was challenged, which led the legislature to amend the Constitution. A district court found the new apportionment to be unconstitutional, violating the equal protection clause. The Supreme Court upheld the decision, leaving the legislature without a constitutional provision for legislative apportionment.
Several tries by the legislature led to the reapportionment following the 1970 census, when the district boundaries for the first time ever broke with the boundaries of the three counties and the city of Wilmington. This reapportionment led to a state Senate composed of 21 members and a House of 41 members, which remains today.[25]
2001 redistricting
On November 1, 2001, the House passed a bill, 32-9, voting to add the new districts. After convening in January 2002, Democrats in the upper chamber offered their first bill, one which did not add new seats in either the House or the Senate. That bill passed 13-8 on a party-line vote. As a legislative stalemate continued, Independent Party chairman Frank Sims filed a suit aimed at ordering the Assembly to act. Sims' lawsuit characterized the delay in shaping a bill as an infringement of Delawareans' right to a fair vote and sought a February 10, 2002, deadline before the courts took over.
Sims was successful in getting a Chancery Court decision that blocked legislative expansion. The courts also gave the House until April 19, 2002, to produce a complete map. Republicans did draw that map, unveiling it before the legislature adjourned for Easter. On April 16, 2002, the day set for the vote, Representative Hazel Plant, who was faced with having to fend off a challenge from an incumbent if the proposed map with its altered boundaries passed, threatened to sue under the Voting Rights Act.
Finally, on the last final day to handle redistricting themselves, legislators passed a bill, with the House voting 30-11 and the Senate voting unanimously.[26]
Deviation from Ideal Districts
| 2000 Population Deviation[27] | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office | Percentage | ||||||
| State House districts | 9.98% | ||||||
| State Senate districts | 9.96% | ||||||
| Under federal law, districts may vary from an Ideal District by up to 10%, though the lowest number achievable is preferred. Ideal Districts are computed through simple division of the number of seats for any office into the population at the time of the Census. | |||||||
There were no lawsuits related to the Delaware 2000 census redistricting process.
See also
- State Legislative and Congressional Redistricting after the 2010 Census
- State-by-state redistricting procedures
External links
- Delaware Department Elections - Polling Place Locator
- Delaware Department of Elections - District Maps (dead link)
- U.S. Census Data for Delaware
Footnotes
- ↑ Delaware Code, "Title 29, Chapter 8, § 804. Determining district boundaries; criteria"
- ↑ Washington Post, "Passage of Senate resolution could make redistricting process in Delaware more transparent," March 24, 2011
- ↑ WDEL DeLuca hopes to open redistricting process to public," April 3, 2011
- ↑ Delaware Online, "Delaware Senate votes to open up its emails and caucus meetings to the public — for redistricting only," April 12, 2011
- ↑ Kensington Patch, "New Law, Technology Freshen Maryland's Redistricting Process," December 15, 2010 (dead link)
- ↑ Fox News, "Feds Foil Maryland Redistricting Plan to Count Inmates by Former Home," March 23, 2011
- ↑ Delaware Online, "Delaware redistricting hits roadblock," May 4, 2011
- ↑ Community Pub, "Delaware House votes to side-step prisoner redistricting law," May 10, 2011
- ↑ Delaware Online, "House scraps plan to redistribute prisoner population for redistricting this year," May 10, 2011
- ↑ WGMD, "DE House begins redistricting process," April 5, 2011
- ↑ PR Newswire, "Census Bureau Ships Local 2010 Census Data to Delaware," March 1, 2011
- ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "Delaware Custom tables 2010," accessed March 2, 2011
- ↑ Daily Journal, "Delaware lawmakers accepting public comment as they begin work on legislative redistricting," April 25, 2011
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedDO36 - ↑ Newsworks, "House Democrats release Delaware redistricting plan," May 19, 2011
- ↑ Dover Post, "Delaware House Republicans release redistricting maps," May 17, 2011
- ↑ Dover Post, "Delaware House Democrats release redistricting plan," May 19, 2011
- ↑ Newark Post, "Opinion - Lots of intrigue surrounds redistricting," May 22, 2011
- ↑ Dover Post, "UPDATE: House passes redistricting legislation, Senate vote up next," June 29, 2011
- ↑ Delaware First, "State Senate hears public comment on its redistricting plan," June 2, 2011 (dead link)
- ↑ The Republic, "Delaware lawmakers approve legislative redistricting plan for state House, Senate," June 30, 2011
- ↑ Delaware Online, "General Assembly's pace picks up in late-night flurry," July 1, 2011
- ↑ Delaware Commissioner of Elections, "Elections Voter Registration Totals," November 1, 2010
- ↑ Cape Gazette, "Statewide voter redistricting set to begin," November 11, 2010
- ↑ Policy Archive, "Reapportionment Politics: The History of Redistricting in the 50 States," Rose Institute of State and Local Government, January 1981 (pg.68-70)
- ↑ Fairvote Archive, "Delaware's Redistricting News," accessed February 2, 2011
- ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, “Redistricting 2000 Population Deviation Table”," accessed February 1, 2011
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