Title:
Title
Minority Interests in the Redistricting Process
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FileID
File ID: 2021-00432
Location
Location: Citywide.
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Recommendation:
Recommendation
Receive and file.
FileName
Contact: Matthew Ruyak, Assistant City Attorney, (916) 808-5346, Office of the City Attorney
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Presenter: Matthew Ruyak, Assistant City Attorney, (916) 808-5346, Office of the City Attorney
Attachments:
1-Description/Analysis
2-Presentation
Description/Analysis
Issue Detail: Every ten years, after the U.S. Census, the City of Sacramento must re-establish the boundaries for City Council districts. The resulting council district boundaries must be balanced in population in accordance with local, state, and federal rules governing the redistricting process.
A. Equal Protection Clause, the Voting Rights Act, and Minority Vote Dilution
In addition to satisfying the constitutionally required "equal population" standard, a redistricting plan must not result in an improper dilution of a minority group's voting strength. The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits redistricting that intentionally dilutes the voting strength of a minority group, while the federal Voting Rights Act prohibits redistricting that has either the intent or the effect of minority vote dilution. A redistricting plan can improperly minimize the voting strength of a minority group in various ways. With respect to single-member districting plans (such as the City's), minority group voting strength can be diluted if the plan wastes minority votes by packing more minority voters into a district than is necessary to elect a representative of their choice. Vote dilution can also occur if a plan splits a geographically compact minority population among two or more districts, thereby reducing the group's ability to elect a representative in any district. (See Voinovich v. Quilter, 507 U.S. 146 (1993); Garza v. County of Los Angeles, 918 F.2...
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