COLUMBUS – It’s been more than three years since the U.S. Census Bureau released data collected for the 2020 Census, triggering state and local governments across the country to evaluate whether or how to redraw its voting maps.
But with only 4 1/2 months to go before a city election cycle begins in earnest, Columbus still hasn’t adopted a map with new ward lines, even though its current map does not comply with federal law. Now, Lowndes County Clerk Teresa Barksdale said, there may not be enough time for her office to log the address data for a new map before candidates begin qualifying in January.
So what bogged down the city’s redistricting process? And what happens now?
Why is redistricting necessary?
Federal law requires the populations among wards, or any voting district, to deviate by no more than 10%. The 2020 census revealed the current ward lines create a greater deviation, which makes redistricting necessary before next year’s city election.
The city hired the Oxford-based Bridge and Watson consulting firm earlier this year to lead its redistricting efforts. At a May 2 city council work session, firm owner Chris Watson presented a draft map that set the top-to-bottom population deviation among the city’s six wards at 7.1%.
That meant boundaries in five wards would change – with Wards 2 and 6 getting smaller and Wards 1, 4 and 5 picking up ground. The draft map left Ward 3 untouched.
The council can approve the draft map or work with Watson on changes, as long as the map it ultimately approves meets federal guidelines.
In May, Watson encouraged council members to meet with him, one-on-one if necessary, to give feedback on the draft map. He also advised the council to adopt a map by August, so the circuit clerk’s office could log the data and notify voters of any changes by year’s end.
As of Friday, those meetings hadn’t happened, Watson said. The council’s last scheduled August meeting is Tuesday, and officials indicated to The Dispatch last week that redistricting isn’t on the agenda.
Why is August approval so important?
Simple: The federal general election in November.
With any redistricting, the circuit clerk’s office must revise the address library in the state system to reflect the changes and notify voters of the changes. Ann Marie Higgins, Lowndes County’s deputy circuit clerk for elections, said it took about a month to input that data after the county approved its new map.
When the federal general election opens Sept. 1, Barksdale said, her office cannot make the city updates to the address library until the election is closed and certified, either in late November or early December. That would leave the office, maybe, just enough time to get it done by the time qualifying starts.
The tedious part, Watson said, is inputting the “range data” – what blocks of certain streets moved wards or if one side of a street changed and another didn’t. He said his company can provide that data to the circuit clerk’s office, saving it much of the work. But the council would have to approve and pay the firm extra for that labor under its hourly rate contract.
Technically, both Watson and Barksdale said, the map doesn’t have to be final until party primaries start in April. Both said that’s “not ideal,” because it would increase voter confusion about their ward and voting precinct. Barksdale said it could lead to a disproportionate number of affidavit (provisional) ballots being cast.
But there’s another cost of waiting, Mayor Keith Gaskin said. Potential candidates need to know as soon as possible in what ward they would be running.
If the council fails to approve a new map at all, Watson said the election could move forward with the current illegal map. However, it would open up the election to court challenges.
“The maps don’t invalidate themselves,” he explained. “It’s kind of like breaking the speed limit. You can break it as many times as you want until you get caught.”
What has been the holdup?
When the council voted in March to pursue annexing two areas east and southeast of the city limits, the plan would add almost 2,000 residents to the city.
Vice Mayor Joseph Mickens, the councilman for Ward 2, said most council members hoped annexation would clear before year’s end, which would have allowed the new map to reflect the added territory. If territory is added, the city will have to redistrict again, Mickens said. Why do something twice when you can do it all at once, he asked.
But Lowndes County supervisors voted to hire an attorney to fight the annexation plan, and Chancery Judge Rodney Faver ruled in July that the trial would not happen before next spring.
“Basically, we were waiting on annexation, and we found out that couldn’t happen before next year,” Mickens said. “Now, we’re moving forward with redistricting.”
What happens now?
Mickens believes the council will adopt a new map by the end of this month, even if it has to call a special meeting to do it. He also believes the new map will be “pretty close” to Watson’s draft. There will be a few changes, he said, because “different people want different things.”
He maintains the council has until the end of the year to approve a new map, and he offered little sympathy for any hardship that causes the circuit clerk’s office.
“It’s not on us to make sure they have time to fix it,” Mickens told The Dispatch. “That’s on them.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 31 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
