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Historical Background
Source:
Arkansas
Board of Apportionment
Through staff members of the various
offices, the board of Apportionment began preparation for the upcoming
redistricting redistricting in early 1999. The Secretary of State's office
coordinates the purchase of the computer hardware and software tools that
will be used in the redistricting effort. Staff members of all three
offices meet regularly to plan future public hearings and to discuss
redistricting issues.
The Board met on September 6, 2000 to schedule an initial round of public
hearings, which will begin on November 14,. 2000. Of course, no official
census population data will be available at that time, but the hearings
will provide an early opportunity for citizens to present their views
concerning local preferences, communities of interest, and other issues
that the Board may consider in drawing the lines. The Board and its staff
will undertake training on the redistricting computer equipment in
October. The staff will use the redistricting computer equipment to
perform a series of districting related tasks leading up the release of
the census 2000 data.
The Census Bureau must deliver detailed
population data to the states no later than April 1, 2001. When this data
is received it will be loaded into the computers. Given the amount of data
involved, it could take up to two weeks to have the computers ready. Staff
will then begin to draw actual lines for the legislative districts. It is
expected that the Board will hold further public hearings after initial
draft plans are completed.
Also, shortly after the data is delivered
to the Board of Apportionment, the Board will, in turn, deliver the data
to the 75 County Boards of Election Commissioners in the State. The County
Boards will use the data provided by the Census Bureau to draw electoral
districts for the quorum courts.
Article 8 of the Arkansas Constitution
provides that redistricting must be completed by February 1 of the year
following the census, which would be February 1, 2001 for the current
redistricting. As noted in the section titled "Legal
Requirement to Redistrict", this deadline is not practical. The 1991
redistricting plan was not filed until January 1992, due to ongoing
litigation. Barring unforeseen circumstances, and given the greater
technological efficiency of the computer equipment, staff expects that a
completed plan is possible by late summer of 2001. The Board will adopt
the final plan at a public meeting, and then file the plan with the
Secretary of State.
A suit challenging an adopted plan can be
filed at any time in federal court under federal law. A suit to challenge
the plan on state law grounds must be filed within thirty (30) days after
the date the plan is filed with the Secretary of State.
The new plan becomes effective after the
30-day state-court challenge period has passed. The Local election
officials must make arrangements to hold the 2002 elections pursuant to
the new plan. Filing for the 2002 election begins March 19, 2002. The
State Constitution provides that a legislative candidate must reside in
the district the candidate wishes to represent for a one-year period prior
the election in November 2002.
After the first election under the new plan
in 2002, Amendment 23, Section 6 of the Arkansas Constitution requires
that the senators in roughly half the senate districts serve two-year
terms initially. The senators from the remaining districts serve four-year
terms initially, but those districts’ senators serve two-year terms at
the end of the decade. The purpose of this provision is to allow all
senate districts to have elections in the first election under the new
plan. The senators will meet at the beginning of the 2003 legislative
session and draw lots to determine which districts will initially have
two-year terms.
The first General Assembly under the new
districting plan convenes in January 2003. |