Bill Text: DE SR9 | 2011-2012 | 146th General Assembly | Draft
Bill Title: Urging An Open And Transparent Redistricting Process With Public Participation.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-03-23 - Passed by Senate. Votes: Passed 20 YES 0 NO 0 NOT VOTING 1 ABSENT 0 VACANT [SR9 Detail]
Download: Delaware-2011-SR9-Draft.html
|
SPONSOR: |
Sen. Katz |
|
Sens. Peterson, Simpson, Sorenson |
|
DELAWARE STATE SENATE 146th GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
|
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 9 |
|
URGING AN OPEN AND TRANSPARENT REDISTRICTING PROCESS WITH PUBLIC PARTICIPATION. |
WHEREAS, the citizens of Delaware should be entitled to comment on the redrawing of Legislative district lines as the process unfolds; and
WHEREAS, the migration of more people to the south compared to older residential patterns in this State may require the shifting of more than a few Census Tracts from within their current Representative and Senatorial districts lines to others; and
WHEREAS, not only Legislators, but their constituents, also have strong feelings about the geographic cohesiveness and the partisan balance of districts; and
WHEREAS, citizens should be able to recommend redistricting plans for the House and Senate they feel will represent the public interest;
NOW, THEREFORE:
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the 146th General Assembly that:
(1) The 2010 Redistricting process for the Delaware Senate should be open and transparent;
(2) All drawing of lines or grouping of Census Tracts to produce new Senate Districts should be discussed and explained in a public forum with appropriate public notice;
(3) The Legislative Council should provide purchase information on the computer program and Census data used by the General Assembly;
(4) Opportunities should be provided for proponents of plans to present them in public to the Senate and/or the committees or persons charged with the task of Redistricting the Senate; and
(5) The final plan or plans to be voted on by the Senate should be a product of this public process.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate of the 146th General Assembly believes the public can fairly weigh all information that should go into considering how Census Tracts should be grouped and while they may be likely to favor people from their area, they will also be motivated to preserve fundamental fairness for all future candidates.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the objective of redistricting, as established by the United States and Delaware Constitutions, is to make election districts fair, and this should be the goal that drives the process--numerical equality in persons represented per district, along with equality of opportunity for anyone to be elected in districts balanced by party, race and ethnicity.
SYNOPSIS
|
This Senate Resolution declares the intent of the Senate to have the redistricting process open and transparent. Specifically, this Resolution calls for open meetings and opportunities for the public to be heard in the redistricting process. |
Author: Senator Katz
