Redistricting Question & Answer Sessions
with the Brennan Center's Justin Levit and George Mason's Michael McDonald
Redistricting Q&A - Section 1. Redrawing the Boundaries: A Midwest Redistricting Discussion Q&A session with George Mason University's Mike McDonald and the Brennan Center's Justin Levitt. Recorded in Chicago, IL on Oct. 22, 2009. |
If you're admitting that the census place boundaries are arbitrary, why would you use that as one of your criteria? Why not use other political boundaries as a higher priority?
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How are incarcerated people counted? How are college students and the military counted? Is there any data on how many prisoners--during the census period--return to their home communities, and as a consequence should be counted in their home communities? If a state government elects to alter its prison count, when does that take place? What's the incentive for someone who benefits from a prison population to demand a census recount? What are the primary effects of counting incarcerated people where they are incarcerated? Does counting incarcerated people differ when it comes to congressional districts--versus state and local districts? |
What are your thoughts on cumulative voting in the multi-member districts that Illinois had before 1982? (Includes discussion of methods of gerrymandering and combatting gerrymandering). What is going on with redistricting in terms of the independent vote? Do the numbers in the Racial Communities portion of Mike McDonald's Redistricting Practicalities presentation represent the total black population or the voting age black population in Cleveland and Detroit? What does the phrase "communities of interest" mean when it comes to redistricting? |
