To quote country music icon George Jones, “Now the wait is on.” After months of discussion, the 2012 redistricting plan for the City of Columbus has been submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice. And consultant Chris Watson, whose firm Bridge and Watson handled the redistricting, said the city will now wait for the DOJ to make its decision.
“We submitted the final clearance reports to the DOJ last week,” Watson said. “Now, we just have to wait. The DOJ has 60 days in which to respond.”
Two plans were submitted to the DOJ. One plan was designed by Bridge and Watson and approved 4-2 by the City Council. The second plan was drawn up by Golden Triangle Planning and Development and supported by Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens and Ward 5 Councilman Kabir Karriem, along with a faction of inner-city black ministers.
The council plan would cut the population variance among wards to 9.5 percent. Currently, there is a 20 percent variance between the city’s most populated ward, Ward 6, and its least populated, Ward 4. A variance of more than 10 percent automatically triggers redistricting, according to federal law.
There is no change in wards 1 and 2. Ward 3 would lose everything south of Hemlock Street and everything west of McCrary Street; those areas would move into Ward 4. The Ward 6 area south of Waverly Road, and a block of Sixth Street North, would be taken into Ward 5.
Census data from 2010 shows Ward 4 is the most underpopulated ward, with a variance of negative 427 or negative 10 percent, down from 219 people in 2000. Ward 6 is the most heavily populated, with a positive variance of 360, or 9.1 percent.
Karriem and Mickens were critical of the plan, stating it creates “stacking” in Wards 1 and 4. The second plan would create a “super black ward” in Ward 2, making it harder for a white candidate to win a council race.
Redistricting, where legislative or voting districts are redrawn, is mandated by the DOJ and falls under Section 5 of The Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The redistricting must be approved and the wards redrawn before the municipal elections in 2013.
Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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