Map from p 19 Republicans grumbled that some commu- nities of interest were split up for partisan reasons. For example, the Scottsdale area McCormick Ranch area was split between Legislative District 4 and District 8 in drafts and the final map, instead of just District 4. Meanwhile, in draft maps, Legislative Districts 2 in Deer Valley and 4 in Scotts- dale were overpopulated, while District 28 in Sun City West and more rural areas North of Phoenix was underpopulated. Deer Valley ended up with 246,674 resi- dents, while the largely Scottsdale district had 244,298 voters and Sun City area had 228,803 voters in the final maps. “Population inequality among districts unfairly strengthens the impact of voters in underpopulated districts while weaken- ing the impact of voters in overpopulated districts,” said Arizona Republican Senate President Karen Fann and state House Speaker Rusty Bowers in a joint letter. One community organization accused the commission of ignoring input from marginalized communities in Arizona when creating the new districts. “It is clear the commission failed to in- corporate the input Arizona’s communi- ties shared during every part of the process,” said Victoria Grijalva Ochoa, re- districting program manager of One Ari- zona after the vote. “Some stakeholders had the opportunity to directly influence district lines without challenge, while others were not given remotely the same opportunity. We cannot help but feel as though the (commission) only paid lip service to our communities throughout this process.” Ochoa said before the vote that the La- tino population is growing in Arizona. “Political power should reflect that,” she said. “We should be able to have fair representation.” It’s unfair and not representative when voters are ‘packed’ in a district when a big chunk of voters usually minorities are seg- regated. Ochoa said one example of a packed district is Legislative District 24 in the city of Glendale and Maryvale neigh- borhood where 51 percent of registered voters are Hispanic. Or the potential dilu- tion of Latinos as voters in Congressional Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission “IT’S NO SECRET THAT WE HAVE PEOPLE WORKING AGAINST BLACK AND BROWN PEOPLE AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES.TRIBES HAVE WORKED SO HARD TO GET FAIR REPRESENTATION EVEN THOUGH WE’RE A SMALLER POPULATION BUT WE CAN’T GO BACKWARD.” — JAYNIE PARRISH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NAVAJO COUNTY DEMOCRATS District 3, South Phoenix Laveen, Maryvale, and downtown Phoenix, when the majority white community of Peoria was recommended to be included but stayed in District 8 in the final maps. Ultimately, out of nine congressional districts, two are very competitive, while the remaining seven districts voted solidly for either Republicans or Democrats. Latinos have the voting majority in two out of nine congressional districts: District 3 in Phoenix and District 7 along the U.S.- Mex- ico border from Nogales to Yuma. Both have historically voted overwhelmingly for Democrats. Organizers say it was a massive lift to even have tribal members participate in the process. Rural communities live far from meeting locations and many don’t have access to the internet to submit a pub- lic comment during the redistricting meet- ings. Ultimately the commission merely paid “lip service” to native communities, activists complained. “It’s no secret that we have people working against black and brown people and Indigenous communities,” said Jaynie Parrish, executive director of the Navajo County Democrats. “Tribes have worked so hard to get fair representation even though we’re a smaller population but we can’t go backward.” Since it only happens once a decade there’s a gap in information about what ex- actly it is anyway, she said. Parrish said she was most concerned about congressional District 2 on the new maps, which covers a large swath of rural Arizona from south of Phoenix to Prescott The recently approved maps for the state legislature (left) and U.S. Representatives (right). and Flagstaff, as an example where native voters are washed out. About 21 percent of the district’s voters were Native American but the district elected Republicans in the past nine elec- tions. Democrat O’Halleran represents what is now District 1 and is running for re-elec- tion under District 2 next year. “That’s where you see the diluting,” Parrish said. “We don’t want to break up native voting power.” Lawsuits are likely to challenge these maps both insiders and outsiders say. “Process is not as important as results. A commission is just a process, fair maps is a result,” said Marc E. Elias, attorney at Elias Law Group and founder of Democracy Docket which focuses on election law. “The Arizona redistricting process did not succeed if its goal was to enact fair maps. I would anticipate that you will see litigation against those Arizona maps in the coming days and weeks.” 20 JAN 13TH– JAN 19TH, 2022 PHOENIX NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | NEWS | OPINION | FEEDBACK | CONTENTS | phoenixnewtimes.com
