Collin County Commissioners ignoring census data in redistricting effort

by Bill Baumbach of The Collin County Observer

Redistricting is a political act, performed by politicians but regulated by constitutional, legislative, and judicial constraints. Since the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, most legislative bodies have had the power to draw their own member districts.

The courts have sometimes intervened, and in recent years they have not hesitated to do so when redrawn districts perpetuate ethnic or racial disparities. However the courts have generally allowed politicians considerable latitude in creating districts that benefit themselves or their party. The famous salamander-like district created by Connecticut Governor Elbridge Gerry in 1812 passed court muster, but gave rise to the term Gerrymander.

A look at one of the proposed new county commissioner precinct plans certainly recalls Gerrymandering. Precinct 1 (Matt Shaheen) looks like an upside down L and runs from Westminster to West Plano. Precinct 2 (Jerry Hoagland) also runs from the western county line to the eastern line, and covers a slice of the southern county. Precinct 3 (Joe Jaynes) looks like a giant butterfly. It winds from Plano to McKinney to Farmersville and Blue Ridge. Precinct 4 (Kathy Ward) is the most changed. What is currently a purely West Plano district would now salamander from Plano all the way to Josephine.

The United States Constitution requires in Article 1, Section 2 that representatives be apportioned "according to their respective numbers." The same paragraph in the Constitution also requires an "enumeration" or census to be conducted every 10 years. Since the passage of the Constitution in 1789, this country has used U.S. Census data as the basis for Congressional, state legislative, county and city redistricting.

No more -- at least not in Collin County.

Discarding 220 years of American political tradition, the Collin County Commissioners Court believes it is more suited than the U.S. Census Bureau to determine the populations of its own districts. The commissioners have stated that they do not believe they should wait for the 2010 census and so they plan to use county GIS estimates to redraw the commissioners district boundaries.

The commissioners argue that the rapid growth in this county requires an adjustment now. They tasked their own GIS department to estimate current population in each voting precinct, so that new commissioner districts could be drawn. I've spoken to GIS staff. They have plotted every home in the county, and then they use what they believe is the current average number of people per home to estimate the current population. The GIS staff believes this system, with some adjustments, is superior to methods used by state and COG demographers.

The U.S. Census uses a different method. It actually counts the number of people living at each address. A few years ago, attempts by some members of congress to allow the use of statistical estimates on 'hard to count' populations were shot down. Legislation was passed into law requiring that only actually counted people, instead of estimated counts be used for redistricting.

It is true that the commissioner's precincts (districts) are out of balance to the presumed actual population. Joe Jaynes' precinct has gained the most and is much larger than any of the other precincts. However, these same districts are perfectly balanced according to the 2000 census data.

Many believe that the county, in using its own data, is embarking down a slippery slope.

While this nation does allow its political leaders the right to draw their own districts, that right has never been extended to allowing those same politicians to also determine the counting of the people that make up the districts. By requiring a census every ten years, our Founding Fathers placed a check on the power of the legislatures.

Politicians can draw the boundaries, but they must draw them using independently obtained data.

While there are indeed imbalances in the current districts, they are nothing new. We have lived with the imbalance for several years. The disparities can be and should be remedied in 2011 - after the 2010 census.

The Collin County Commissioners seem to be saying, "because of our phenomenal growth, we are a special case."

The wisdom of our Founding Fathers and over 200 years of precedent would seem to many to be of higher importance than Collin County's claim to be special.