NCSL Redistricting and Elections Committee Presentations

NCSL Legislative Summit
Chicago, Illinois
August 6-9, 2012

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Most legislatures develop elaborate systems for the redistricting process.  Once the lines have been adopted, how can those systems be used to help the legislature in policymaking?  What can be done now to ensure that the systems don't just get mothballed once redistricting ends?  This session will explore different ways states can use their GIS technology after redistricting has winded down.
 
Speakers:
Clare Dyer, Program Manager, Redistricting and Special Projects Presentation available here
Howard Simkowitz, Caliper Corporation presentation available here
Richard Leadbeater, Esri presentation available here
 

Reallocation of Prisoners Prior to Redistricting

Prisoner reallocation is a new redistricting practice with its beginnings attributed to several events. Three states have passed laws so far this cycle requiring that prisoners be counted at their home address. This presentation will discuss the advent of the practice, how states have fared implementing it and what courts have said about the practice.
 
Speakers:
Michelle Davis, Senior Policy Analyst; Maryland Department of Legislative Services presentation availalbe here
Debra Levine, Executive Director, Taskforce on Demographic Research and Reapportionment presentation available here

From Austin to Albany

The US Supreme Court's January 2012 decision in Perry v Perez has led observors to assume that courts should always look to legislative redistricting enactments before drawing plans of their own. What has happened in the states since the Supreme Court's ruling? This session will look at the 2011-12 redistricting cycle with a focus on Texas and New York (and states in between) where courts have had to consider the kind of plans to draw. Legislative deference and legislative plan enactments will be discussed when states have approved laws in effect or where legislatures failed to enact a plan and an"impasse" developed. . In addition to the Texas and New York, the session will also look at other states including Connecticut, Minnesota and Nevada where courts have had to step in to draw the lines.
 
Speakers:
David Hanna, Senior Legislative Counsel, Legislative Council, Texas Legislature presentation available here
Jeff Wice, Special Council, New York State Senate
Jason Torchinsky, Holtzman Vogel PLCC, Warrenton, Virginia

Redistricting 2012 Legal Panel

154 cases have been filed as a result of the 2010 redistricting cycle and there are still 54 active cases in 22 different states.  This session will look at the major pending legal challenges and decisions and explore the possibilities of a major ruling.
 
Speakers:
J. Gerald Hebert, Campaign Legal Center, Washington, D.C. presentation available here
Jason Torchinsky, Holtzman Vogel PLCC, Warrenton, Virginia