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Louisiana Redistricting: The 2000s |
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Maps,
Plans, and Reports for House, Congress, BESE, and
PSC redistricting. |
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FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS |
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I. What is redistricting/reapportionment?
Redistricting means redrawing the districts from which public officials are elected. Members of the U. S. House of Representatives, the Louisiana Senate and House of Representatives, Justices of the Louisiana Supreme Court, Members of the Public Service Commission, and the members of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education are elected by the voters who live in distinct geographic districts. Parish and municipal governing bodies, school boards, and other governmental subdivision governing bodies are elected from geographic districts as
well.
Reapportionment is a federal issue that applies only to Congress. It is the process of dividing up the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives among the 50 states based on each state’s proportion of the total U.S. population as determined by the most recent census
II. Who does this?
The Louisiana Constitution in
Article III, §6
provides the legislature is responsible for its own redistricting. Additionally, since the political boundaries for Congressional seats, the Supreme Court, the Public Service Commission, and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education are provided in statute, the legislature is responsible for the redistricting of those bodies as well {See,
Article III, § 1
}.
The Louisiana House of Representatives has delegated the initial research, collection of public comment, and drafting phase to the
subcommittee on Reapportionment of the House & Governmental Affairs Committee
.
III. How is this done?
Redistricting plans, like other legislation, are passed by the Legislature in bills. Such bills are introduced and go through committees before they are considered on the House and Senate floors. Once both houses of the Legislature finally pass a redistricting bill, that bill, as is true for all bills, is subject to the Governor's approval or veto. (Click here to view “
How a Bill Becomes Law
”)
New election districts cannot be implemented, however, until are approved by the
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia or the U. S. Department of
Justice under
Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act
.
Once a districting plan is enacted by the Legislature and approved by the Courts or the Justice Department, such a plan will remain in effect until the next round of redistricting following the next federal
census.
As they deliberate the various bills redrawing districts, legislators will be guided by the
rules of the Subcommittee
.
Redistricting is a complex and political process, and all of the principles contained therein are legitimate and traditional redistricting considerations. Ultimately, the voters, through their elected representatives, control the process.
IV. What is the time-line for this process ?
Follow this
link
for the time line for the House of Representatives’ redistricting work.
V. How do I obtain copies of statistics, maps, committee notices?
This web page contains a wealth of information, much of which may be downloaded or merely printed directly from the page [follow this link to our Redistricting Home Page]. If you desire more detailed information than found on this site, there exist several options: for more detailed population figures, you may visit the
Census Bureau’s web site
;
or the
La State Census Data Center’s web site
;
or you may
contact us
to request specific products available under Louisiana’s public records law. There will be a charge associated with any document or map procured from the House of Representatives. For copies of notices of committee meetings, you may either visit the web site for electronic notification of ALL House of Representatives
committee meetings
OR contact the Office of the Clerk of the House, 225-342-7259 or fax @ 225-342-5045 to request a mailed or faxed committee meeting notice: There is a charge for this service.
VI. How do I make my voice heard?
To learn about redistricting visit the
National Conference of State Legislatures
website (click on “Public User” at the initial splash page) and follow the links to the pages on “Process” and
“Law.”
To learn about the Louisiana House of Representatives process and the current districts, completely review this site and visit the
Legislature’s Home Page
.
To gain more complete knowledge of the demographics involved, visit the
Census Bureau
site or the
Louisiana State Data Center site.
To voice your opinion, there are two avenues to follow: 1) Attend
Public Hearings
;
and 2)
Contact your representative
.
Certain common sense rules apply in each case. Your goal is to fully communicate your concerns and your desires.
To best make your points, you should be as brief in your presentation as is possible, present your points in a concise manner, and be specific about what it is you want or expect. When communicating with your representative, reducing your presentation to writing and leaving that writing behind is always very effective.
To become more knowledgeable on the issues involved in redistricting, both demographic and legal, and of the legislative process, several resource web sites are available to help you gain this necessary knowledge:
Follow this
link
to discover the schedule for the public hearings of the Subcommittee on Redistricting of the House & Governmental Affairs Committee.
The mailing address for the Subcommittee is: P. O. Box 44486, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70804-4486.
Follow this
link
to contact the committee or send your e-mail directly to
houseredistricting@legis.la.gov
.
Follow this
link
to discover your representative and how to contact her or him.
VII. Who are my current representatives?
The current membership of the Louisiana House of Representatives by name or district number (which is printed upon your voter registration card) is available
here
.
If you would like to search for
your elected Senator, Representative, and Congressman, go
here
for an address based search.
VIII. How do I contact the committee?
The mailing address for the committee is:
House Subcommittee on Reapportionment
House & Governmental Affairs Committee
P. O. Box 44486 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70804-4486
The telephone number for the Subcommittee is: 225-342-2403
The fax number for the Subcommittee is: 225-34200768
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