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Note: Below is Rep. McMullen’s
original redistricting reform bill. He
later tried to amend SB 990 with a different version that called for six
retired judges rather than four judges and the chairs of the major parties.
Members of the Redistricting Commission
are held accountable in a number of ways:
1.)
They are appointed by legislative leaders
2.)
Their plan has specific goals for population and
parameters for compact districts
3.)
The plan goes to a vote of the legislature before it
is adopted.
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the
51st Legislature (2007)
HOUSE BILL 1937 By: McMullen
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating
to congressional and legislative districts; defining terms; establishing
preparation for redistricting; creating timetable for preparation of
redistricting plan; establishing redistricting standards; creating
independent advisory commission; establishing duties of commission; providing
for codification; and providing an effective date;
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in
the Oklahoma Statutes as Section <140> of Title <14>, unless there is created a duplication in
numbering, reads as follows:
As used in this act, unless the
context requires otherwise:
1. "Chief
election officer" means the Oklahoma Secretary of State;
2. "Commission"
means the temporary redistricting advisory commission established
pursuant to this chapter;
3. "Federal
census" means the decennial census required by federal law
to be conducted by the United States Bureau of the Census in every year ending
in zero;
4. "Four
selecting authorities" means:
a. the Majority Floor Leader of the Oklahoma State Senate,
b. the Minority Floor Leader of the Oklahoma State Senate,
c. the Majority Floor Leader of the Oklahoma House of Representatives, and
d. The Minority Floor Leader of the Oklahoma House of Representatives;
5. "Partisan
public office" means:
a. an elective or appointive office
in the executive or legislative branch or in an independent establishment of
the federal government,
b. an elective office in the
executive or legislative branch of the government of this state, or an office
which is filled by appointment, and
c. an office of a county, city or
other political subdivision of this state which is filled by an election
process involving nomination and election of candidates on a partisan basis;
6. "Plan"
means a plan for legislative and congressional reapportionment
drawn up pursuant to the requirements of this chapter;
7. "Political
party office" means an elective office in the national or
state organization of a political party; and
8. "Relative"
means an individual who is related to the person in question as
father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, first cousin,
nephew, niece, husband, wife, grandfather, grandmother, father-in-law,
mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law,
stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half
brother or half sister.
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in
the Oklahoma Statutes as Section <141> of Title <14>, unless there is created a duplication in
numbering, reads as follows:
A. The Legislative
Services Bureau shall acquire appropriate information, review and evaluate
available facilities, and develop programs and procedures in preparation for
drawing Congressional and Legislative redistricting plans on the basis of
each federal census. Funds shall be expended for the purchase or lease of
equipment and materials only with prior approval of the Legislative Services
Bureau.
B. By December 31 of each year ending in zero,
the Legislative Services Bureau shall obtain from the United States Bureau of
the Census information regarding geographic and political units in this state
for which federal census population data has been gathered and will be
tabulated. The Legislative Services
Bureau shall use the data so obtained to:
1. Prepare necessary descriptions of
geographic and political units for which census data will be reported, and
which are suitable for use as components of legislative districts; and
2. Prepare maps of counties, cities and other
geographic units within the state, which may be used to illustrate the
locations of legislative district boundaries proposed in plans drawn in
accordance with Section 4 of this act.
C. As soon as possible after January 1 of each
year ending in one, the Legislative Services Bureau shall obtain from the
United States Bureau of the Census the population data needed for legislative
districting, and shall use that data to assign a population figure based upon
certified federal census data to each geographic or political unit described
pursuant to paragraph 1 of subsection
B of this section. Upon
completing that task, the Legislative Services Bureau shall begin the
preparation of Congressional and Legislative districting plans as required by
Section 3 of this act.
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in
the Oklahoma Statutes as Section <142> of Title <14>, unless there is created a duplication in
numbering, reads as follows:
A. Not later than April 1 of each year ending
in one, the Legislative Services Bureau shall deliver to the Secretary of the
State Senate and the Chief Clerk of the Oklahoma House of Representatives
identical bills embodying a plan of Legislative and Congressional Districting
prepared in accordance with Section 4 of this act. It is the intent of this chapter that the
State Legislature shall bring the bill to a vote in either the State Senate
or the Oklahoma House of Representatives expeditiously, but not less than
seven (7) days after the report of the Commission required by Section 6 is
received and made available to the members of the Legislature, under a
procedure or rule permitting no amendments except those of a purely
corrective nature. It is further the
intent of this chapter that if the bill is approved by the first house in
which it is considered, it shall expeditiously be brought to a vote in the
second house under a similar procedure or rule.
B. If the bill embodying the plan submitted by
the Legislative Services Bureau under subsection A of this section fails to
be approved by a constitutional majority in either the Senate or the House of
Representatives, the Secretary of the Senate or the Chief Clerk of the House,
as the case may be, shall at once transmit to the Legislative Services Bureau
information which the Senate or House of Representatives may direct regarding
reasons why the plan was not approved.
The Legislative Services Bureau shall prepare a bill embodying a
second plan of Legislative and Congressional Districting prepared in
accordance with Section 4 of this act, and taking into account the reasons
cited by the Senate or House of Representatives for its failure to approve
the plan insofar as it is possible to do so within the requirements of
Section 4 of this act. If a second
plan is required under this section, the bill embodying it shall be delivered
to the Secretary of the Senate and the Chief Clerk of the House of
Representatives not later than May 1 of the year ending in one, or twenty-one
(21) days after the date of the vote by which the Senate or the House of
Representatives fails to approve the bill submitted under subsection A of
this section, whichever date is later.
It is the intent of this chapter that, if it is necessary to submit a
bill under this section, the bill be brought to a vote not less than seven
(7) days after the bill is printed and made available to the members of the
Legislature, in the same manner as prescribed for the bill required under
subsection A of this section.
C. If the bill embodying the plan submitted by
the Legislative Services Bureau under subsection B of this section fails to
be approved by a constitutional majority in either the Senate or the House of
Representatives, the same procedure as prescribed by subsection B of this
section shall be followed. If a third
plan is required under this section, the bill embodying it shall be delivered
to the Secretary of the Senate and the Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives
not later than June 1 of the year ending in one, or twenty-one (21) days
after the date of the vote by which the Senate or the House of
Representatives fails to approve the bill submitted under subsection B of
this section, whichever date is later.
It is the intent of this chapter that, if it is necessary to submit a
bill under this section, the bill be brought to a vote within the same time
period after its delivery to the Secretary of the Senate and the Chief Clerk
of the House of Representatives as is prescribed for the bill submitted under
subsection B of this section, but shall be subject to amendment in the same
manner as other bills.
D. Notwithstanding subsections A, B and C of
this section:
1. If population data from the
federal census which is sufficient to permit preparation of a Congressional
Districting plan becomes available at an earlier time than the population
data needed to permit preparation of a legislative districting plan in
accordance with Section 4 of this act, the Legislative Services Bureau shall
so inform the presiding officers of the Senate and House of
Representatives. If the presiding
officers so direct, the legislative services agency shall prepare a separate
bill establishing Congressional Districts and submit it separately from the
bill establishing legislative districts.
It is the intent of this chapter that the Legislature shall proceed to
consider the Congressional Districting bill in substantially the manner
prescribed by subsections A, B and C of this section; and
2. If the population data for Legislative
districting and, if used by the Legislative Services Bureau, the
corresponding topologically integrated geographic encoding and referencing
data file for that population data, is not available to the Legislative
Services Bureau on or before February 1 of the year ending in one, the dates
set forth in this section shall be extended by a number of days equal to the
number of days after February 1 of the year ending in one that the federal
census population data and the topologically integrated geographic encoding
and referencing data file for legislative districting becomes available.
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in
the Oklahoma Statutes as Section <143> of Title <14>, unless there is created a duplication in
numbering, reads as follows:
A. Legislative and
Congressional Districts shall be established on the basis of population.
1. Senatorial and Representative Districts,
respectively, shall each have a population as nearly equal as practicable to
the ideal population for such districts, determined by dividing the number of
districts to be established into the population of the state reported in the
Federal Decennial Census. Senatorial Districts and Representative Districts
shall not vary in population from the respective ideal district populations
except as necessary to comply with one of the other standards enumerated in
this section. In no case shall the
quotient, obtained by dividing the total of the absolute values of the
deviations of all district populations from the applicable ideal district
population by the number of districts established, exceed one percent (1%) of
the applicable ideal district population.
No Senatorial
District
shall have a population which exceeds that of any other Senatorial District by more than five percent (5%),
and no Representative District shall have a population which exceeds that of
any other Representative District by more than five percent (5%).
2. Congressional Districts shall each have a
population as nearly equal as practicable to the ideal district population,
derived as prescribed in paragraph 1
of this subsection. No
Congressional District shall have a population which varies by more than one
percent (1%) from the applicable ideal district population.
3. If a challenge is filed with the Supreme
Court alleging excessive population variance among districts established in a
plan adopted by the Legislature, the Legislature has the burden of justifying
any variance in excess of one percent (1%) between the population of a
district and the applicable ideal district population.
B. To the extent consistent with subsection A
of this section, district boundaries shall coincide with the boundaries of
political subdivisions of the state.
The number of counties and cities divided among more than one district
shall be as small as possible. When
there is a choice between dividing local political subdivisions, the more
populous subdivisions shall be divided before the less populous, but this
statement does not apply to a legislative district boundary drawn along a
county line which passes through a city that lies in more than one county.
C. Districts shall be composed of convenient
contiguous territory. Areas which meet
only at the points of adjoining corners are not contiguous.
D. It is preferable that districts be compact
in form, but the standards established by subsections A, B and C of this
section take precedence over compactness where a conflict arises between
compactness and these standards. In
general, compact districts are those which are square, rectangular or
hexagonal in shape to the extent permitted by natural or political boundaries. When it is necessary to compare the
relative compactness of two or more districts, or of two or more alternative
districting plans, the tests prescribed by paragraphs 2 and 3 of
subsection A of this section shall be used.
Should the results of these two tests be contradictory, the standard
referred to in paragraph 2 of
subsection A of this section shall be given greater weight than the standard
referred to in paragraph 3 of subsection A of this section.
E. As used in this subsection:
1. "Population
data unit" means a civil township, election precinct,
census enumeration district, census city block group, or other unit of
territory having clearly identified geographic boundaries and for which a
total population figure is included in or can be derived directly from
certified federal census data.
2. The "geographic
unit center" of a population data unit is that point
approximately equidistant from the northern and southern extremities, and
also approximately equidistant from the eastern and western extremities, of a
population data unit. This point shall be determined by visual observation of
a map of the population data unit, unless it is otherwise determined within
the context of an appropriate coordinate system developed by the federal
government or another qualified and objective source and obtained for use in
this state with prior approval of the legislative council.
3. The "x"
coordinate of a point in this state refers to the relative
location of that point along the east-west axis of the state. Unless otherwise measured within the
context of an appropriate coordinate system obtained for use as permitted by
paragraph 2 of this subsection, the "x" coordinate shall be
measured along a line drawn due east from a due north and south line running
through the point which is the northwestern extremity of the State of
Oklahoma, to the point to be located.
4. The “y" coordinate of a point in this state refers to
the relative location of that point along the north-south axis of the
state. Unless otherwise measured
within the context of an appropriate coordinate system obtained for use as
permitted by paragraph 2 of this subsection, the "y" coordinate
shall be measured along a line drawn due south from the northern boundary of
the state or the eastward extension of that boundary, to the point to be
located.
F. The compactness of a district is
greatest when the length of the district and the width of the district are
equal. The measure of a district's
compactness is the absolute value of the difference between the length and
the width of the district.
1. In measuring the length and the width of a
district by means of electronic data processing, the difference between the
"x" coordinates of the easternmost and the
westernmost geographic unit centers included in the district shall be
compared to the difference between the "y" coordinates of the
northernmost and southernmost geographic unit centers included in the
district.
2. To determine the length and width of a
district by manual measurement, the distance from the northernmost point or
portion of the boundary of a district to the southernmost point or portion of
the boundary of the same district and the distance from the westernmost point
or portion of the boundary of the district to the easternmost point or
portion of the boundary of the same district shall each be measured. If the northernmost or southernmost portion
of the boundary, or each of these points, is a part of the boundary running
due east and west, the line used to make the measurement required by this
paragraph shall either be drawn due north and south or as nearly so as the
configuration of the district permits.
If the easternmost or westernmost portion of the boundary, or each of
these points, is a part of the boundary running due north and south, a
similar procedure shall be followed.
The lines to be measured for the purpose of this paragraph shall each
be drawn as required by this paragraph, even if some part of either or both
lines lies outside the boundaries of the district which is being tested for
compactness.
3. The absolute values computed for individual
districts under this paragraph may be cumulated for all districts in a plan
in order to compare the overall compactness of two or more alternative
districting plans for the state, or for a portion of the state. However, it is not valid to cumulate or
compare absolute values computed under paragraph 1 of this subsection with
those computed under paragraph 2 of this subsection.
G. The compactness of a district is
greatest when the ratio of the dispersion of population about the population
center of the district to the dispersion of population about the geographic
center of the district is one to one, the nature of this ratio being such
that it is always greater than zero and can never be greater than one to one.
1. The population dispersion about the
population center of a district, and about the geographic center of a
district, is computed as the sum of the products of the population of each
population data unit included in the district multiplied by the square of the
distance from that geographic unit center to the population center or the
geographic center of the district, as the case may be. The geographic center of the district is defined
by averaging the locations of all geographic unit centers which are included
in the district. The population center
of the district is defined by computing the population-weighted average of
the "x" coordinates and "y" coordinates of each
geographic unit center assigned to the district, it being assumed for the
purpose of this calculation that each population data unit possesses uniform
density of population.
2. The ratios computed for individual
districts under this paragraph may be averaged for all districts in a plan in
order to compare the overall compactness of two or more alternative
districting plans for the state, or for a portion of the state.
H. No district shall be drawn for the purpose
of favoring a political party, incumbent legislator or member of Congress, or
other person or group, or for the purpose of augmenting or diluting the
voting strength of a language or racial minority group. In establishing districts, no use shall be
made of any of the following data:
1. Addresses of incumbent legislators or
members of Congress;
2. Political affiliations of registered
voters;
3. Previous election results; and
4. Demographic information, other than
population head counts, except as required by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States.
I. In order to minimize electoral confusion
and to facilitate communication within state legislative districts, each plan
drawn under this section shall provide that each Representative District is
wholly included within a single Senatorial District and that, so far as possible,
each Representative and each Senatorial District shall be included within a
single Congressional District.
However, the standards established by subsections E through H of this
section shall take precedence where a conflict arises between these standards
and the requirement, so far as possible, of including a Senatorial or
Representative district within a single Congressional District.
J. Each bill embodying a plan drawn under this
section shall provide that any vacancy in the Legislature which takes office
in the year ending in one, occurring at a time which makes it necessary to
fill the vacancy at a special election, shall be filled from the same
district which elected the Senator or Representative whose seat is vacant.
K. Each bill embodying a plan drawn under this
section shall include provisions for election of Senators to the Legislature
which take office in the years ending in three and five. With respect to any plan drawn for
consideration in the year 2001, those provisions shall be substantially as
follows:
1. Each odd-numbered Senatorial District shall elect a Senator in 2002 for
a four-year term commencing in January 2003.
If an incumbent Senator who was elected to a four-year term which
commenced in January 2011, or was subsequently elected to fill a vacancy in
such a term, is residing in an odd-numbered Senatorial district on February
1, 2012, that Senator's term of office shall be terminated on January 1,
2013.
2. Each even-numbered Senatorial District shall elect a Senator in 2014 for
a four-year term commencing in January 2015.
a. if one and only one incumbent State
Senator is residing in an even-numbered Senatorial District on February
1, 2012,
and that Senator meets all of the following requirements, the Senator shall
represent the District in the Senate for the Eightieth Legislature:
(1) the Senator
was elected to a four-year term which commenced in January 2011 or was
subsequently elected to fill a vacancy in such a term.
(2) the Senatorial District in the plan
which includes the place of residence of the State Senator on the date of the
Senator's last election to the Senate is the same as the even-numbered
Senatorial District in which the Senator resides on February 1, 2012, or is
contiguous to such even-numbered Senatorial District and the Senator's
declared residence as of February 1, 2012, was within the district from which
the Senator was last elected. Areas
which meet only at the points of adjoining corners are not contiguous. The Secretary of State shall prescribe a
form to be completed by all Senators to declare their residences as of February
1, 2012. The form shall be filed with the Secretary
of State no later than five p.m. on February
1, 2012.
b. Each even-numbered Senatorial District to which subparagraph (1) of this
paragraph is not applicable shall elect a Senator in 2012 for a two-year term
commencing in January 2013. However, if more than one incumbent State Senator
is residing in an even-numbered Senatorial District on February 1, 2012, and on or before February
15, 2012,
all but one of the incumbent Senators resigns from office effective no later
than January 1, 2013, the remaining incumbent Senator
shall represent the District in the Senate for the Legislature. A copy of the resignation must be filed in
the Office of the Secretary of State no later than five p.m. on February
15, 2012.
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in
the Oklahoma Statutes as Section <144> of Title <14>, unless there is created a duplication in
numbering, reads as follows:
1. Not later than
February 15 of each year ending in one, a five-member independent
redistricting advisory commission shall be established as provided by this
section. The commission's only
functions shall be those prescribed by Section 6 of this act.
a. Each of the four selecting
authorities shall certify to the chief election officer the authority's
appointment of a person to serve on the commission. The certifications may be
made at any time after the Majority and Minority Floor Leaders have been
selected for the Legislature which takes office in the year ending in one,
even though that Legislature's term of office has not actually begun.
b. Within thirty (30) days after the
four selecting authorities have certified their respective appointments to
the commission, but in no event later than February 15 of the year ending in
one, the four commission members so appointed shall select, by a vote of at
least three members, and certify to the chief election officer the fifth
commission member, who shall serve as chairperson.
c. A vacancy on the commission shall
be filled by the initial selecting authority within fifteen days after the
vacancy occurs.
2. No person shall be appointed to the
commission who:
a. is not an eligible elector of the
state at the time of selection,
b. holds partisan public office or
political party office, and
c. is a relative of or is employed by
a member of the Legislature or of the United States Congress, or is employed
directly by the Legislature or by the United States Congress.
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in
the Oklahoma Statutes as Section <145> of Title <14>, unless there is created a duplication in
numbering, reads as follows:
The functions of the commission shall be as follows:
1. If, in preparation of plans as required by this
chapter, the Legislative Services Bureau is confronted with the necessity to
make any decision for which no clearly applicable guideline is provided by
Section 4 of this act, the Legislative Services Bureau may submit a written
request for direction to the commission.
2. Prior to delivering any plan and the bill
embodying that plan to the Secretary of the Senate and the Chief Clerk of the
House of Representatives in accordance with Section 3 of this act, the
Legislative Services Bureau shall provide to persons outside the Legislative
Services Bureau staff only such information regarding the plan as may be
required by policies agreed upon by the commission. This subsection does not apply to
population data furnished to the Legislative Services Bureau by the United
States Bureau of the Census.
3. Upon each delivery by the Legislative
Services Bureau to the Legislature of a bill embodying a plan, pursuant to
Section 3 of this act, the commission shall at the earliest feasible time
make available to the public the following information:
a. copies of the bill delivered by
the Legislative Services Bureau to the Legislature,
b. maps illustrating the plan,
c. a summary of the standards
prescribed by Section 143 for development of the plan, and
d. a statement of the population of
each district included in the plan, and the relative deviation of each
district population from the ideal district population.
4. Upon the delivery by the Legislative
Services Bureau to the Legislature of a bill embodying an initial plan, as
required by Section 3 of this act, the commission shall:
a. As expeditiously as reasonably
possible, schedule and conduct at least three public hearings, in different
geographic regions of the state, on the plan embodied in the bill delivered
by the Legislative Services Bureau to the Legislature.
b. Following the hearings, promptly
prepare and submit to the Secretary of the Senate and the Chief Clerk of the
House a report summarizing information and testimony
received by the commission in the course of the hearings. The commission's report shall include any
comments and conclusions which its members deem appropriate on the
information and testimony received at the hearings, or otherwise presented to
the commission.
SECTION 1. This act shall become effective <November 1, 2007>.
51-1-5992 <LRB> <01/15/07>
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