Drawing equal districts proves challenging
BY MARK J. CRAWFORD
Telegraph Editor
STARKE — Timing will prevent Bradford County from redistricting before the upcoming election, but commissioners will continue to consider options.
After being introduced to an online map creator, commissioners and the public were asked have options ready to present at the May 2 commission meeting.
Commissioner Chairman Chris Dougherty said he’d had further discussion with Supervisor of Elections Amanda Seyfang, and they agreed the county needs more time.
Seyfang previously told the board that come June, her office would kick into full-time election mode, leaving little time work on anything else.
Attorney Will Sexton has worked with some of the commissioners, and law student Colson Douglas has also submitted maps. Sexton mentioned a particular difficulty also brought up by citizen Paul Still, and that is maintaining District 1 as a majority minority voting district while also trying to balance its overall population with the other four districts.
The first goal helps provide diverse leadership, while the second preserves an equal say in government by voters across all five districts.
Attempting both results in an unusually shaped district. As Still pointed out, raising District 1’s population by adding more minority voters must somehow include northeast Starke, the Pleasant Grove community west of Starke and Lincoln City south of Starke.
District 1 Commissioner Carolyn Spooner said having to add entire census blocks to a district complicates matters and she wondered if there were other ways to populate a district without resulting in an oddly shaped district.
She suggested the county could look for some outside expertise.
Commissioner Danny Riddick said anyone can balance the districts’ populations, but even his attempt at maintaining a minority-led voting district resulted in a district that was “all over the place.”
“In the future, I think it’s going to be impossible to get a minority district,” he said, pointing out that communities aren’t as segregated as they once were.
Spooner agreed that things have changed, but Black and other minority citizens still make up a fraction of the overall population. What they may have to accept, she said, is that not all districts will have an equally sized population.
“It took, what … 120 years before we were able to have minority representation in government. So, I want to ensure that we continue to have representation from minority populations,” she said. “There may be some differences in the numbers, but hopefully not so extremely different. We just have to continue looking at it and just do the right thing and work together.”
Dougherty said the discussions would into 2023, the target for completing redistricting. In the meantime, the county commission will also be getting the school board involved in the process.
