ITEM:

ACTION ITEM

 

23.

Receive Report from Lapkoff & Gobalet on Analysis of 2010 Census Data as it relates to current voter division boundaries

 

Meeting Date:
July 18, 2011

Budgeted:

N/A

 

From:

Darby Fuerst,

Program/

Services & Supplies

 

General Manager

Line Item No.:

Professional Fees

 

 

 

Prepared By:

Arlene Tavani

Cost Estimate:

N/A

 

General Counsel Review:  Yes

Committee Recommendation:  N/A

CEQA Compliance:  N/A

 

SUMMARY:    Federal election law requires that following each decennial census the District must evaluate voter divisions and adjust them as necessary if the populations are not balanced.  Attached as Exhibit 23-A is the Demographic Evaluation of Current MPWMD Director Divisions Using Census 2010 Data report that was prepared for the District by Lapkoff & Gobalet Demographic Research, Inc.  The report concludes that the populations are balanced, and that no change is required in the District’s current director division boundaries.  Therefore, the current director divisions (Exhibit 23-B) will remain in effect until 2020 when the next decennial census is conducted. 

 

STAFF RECOMMENDATION:    Receive the report from Lapkoff & Gobalet and determine that the director division populations are balanced, and that the MPWMD will continue to use its current director division boundaries.  

 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:   The report by Lapkoff & Gobalet describes in detail how the District’s current director divisions comply with federal requirements related to population equality, Federal Voting Rights Act, and communities of interest.   Therefore, no change to the director division boundaries is required. A summary of the Lapkoff & Gobalet analysis is shown below.  Please refer to Exhibit 23-A for the detailed analysis.

 

Population Equality – Federal law requires that divisions must be fairly equal in population size.  Table 1 shows the relative population equality among the director divisions.  The populations of director divisions do not need to be exactly equal; the guideline is that a district plan should not exceed a 10 percent deviation.  The current plan’s deviation, 9.2 percent, is within the 10 percent maximum deviation guideline.  Please refer to page 4 of Exhibit 23-A for an explanation of how the districting plan’s deviation is calculated.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Description: Table1                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

 

 

 

 

Federal Voting Rights Act:  If division populations are unequal, boundaries must be adjusted in ways that do not violate the Voting Rights Act.  The changes must, to the extent possible, maintain voting strength of minority groups as it currently exists in the divisions.  Jurisdictions in certain counties of California, such as Monterey County, must preclear any changes in district boundaries with the U.S. Department of Justice before they take effect.  Lapkoff & Gobalet maintain that the strength of minority groups is maintained (see Communities of Interest below) and recommend that no change be made to the voter division boundaries; therefore, preclearance is not required.

 

Communities of Interest – The Federal Voting Rights Act has been interpreted to mean that if there are sufficiently numerous, geographically compact, politically cohesive, protected groups (including Hispanics, Asian Americans, and African Americans) in a jurisdiction, political subdivisions should be drawn to permit members of these groups to elect representatives of their choice.  The 2010 Census enumerations show that MPWMD does not have a single protected group that is sufficiently numerous that it can be assured of electing a representative of choice from any current director division. However, members of the various protected groups congregate in northern MPWMD communities, and live there together (along with non-Hispanic Whites) which suggests they may qualify as a single community of interest.  Representatives of these groups have made statements over the years that they, collectively, are a community of interest and are politically cohesive.  These protected group populations comprise 60 percent of the voting age population (VAP) of Division 1 and 50 percent of the VAP in Division 2.

 

IMPACT TO STAFF/RESOURCES:  There would be no additional cost to the District to maintain the current director division boundaries.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

 

EXHIBITS

23-A    Demographic Evaluation of Current MPWMD Director Divisions Using Census 2010 Data, prepared by Lapkoff & Gobalet Demographic Research, Inc.

23-B    Map of Current Director Division Boundaries (Population based on 2010 Census)

 

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