PORTLAND, Ore. - Local prison populations can affect how voting districts will be drawn.

Eleven states, including Washington, have reconsidered where incarcerated people are counted - where they are from, not where they are serving time. However, Oregon is not one of them. The issue has become more pressing as redistricting goes into full swing.

Wanda Bertram, communication strategist at the Prison Policy Initiative, described how prison gerrymandering create unequal representation.

"If I am in one district that's close to the prison, and you're in another district that's across town and you don't live close to the prison, I'm going to end up with, relatively speaking, more access to political representation than you do," she said, "because the actual size of my district has been 'padded' by incarcerated people."

In Washington state, people in prison will be counted as residents of their home address. Bertram said this puts political power back into these communities, which especially is important for areas over-represented in prisons. She noted that Oregon has introduced several measures, including in 2019, that would end so-called "prison gerrymandering" - but none has passed.

The Prison Policy Initiative believes it would be ideal if the Census Bureau changed its policy to count incarcerated people as residents of the communities they call home. Bertram noted that it's also too late for states such as Oregon to end prison gerrymandering, since the legislative session already is over for the year.

"We're shifting our focus to urge cities and counties heavily impacted by prison gerrymandering to take action at the local level," she said, "because counties and cities in most states have the ability to decide to not count incarcerated people when they redistrict."

In the 2010 census, 28% of Pendleton's population and 12% of Salem's were made up of incarcerated people. Pendleton Mayor John Turner said by email that no one in the community has expressed concern about this issue. The Prison Policy Initiative also is asking states to "spread out" their prison population so it isn't overrepresented in certain communities. The Legislative Policy and Research Office in Oregon said the state can't do this because the Legislature didn't pass a measure allowing it.


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HARRISBURG, Pa. - A new Redistricting Advisory Council announced last week by Gov. Tom Wolf's office will focus on reducing gerrymandering as new voting-district maps are redrawn.

The council is made up of six academics and political experts from throughout the state, each with knowledge of redistricting. They will provide recommendations to the governor when he reviews the new congressional-district maps approved by the state Legislature later this year.

Khalif Ali, executive director of Common Cause Pennsylvania, said he hopes the new council ensures the people of the Commonwealth come first.

"Drawing maps is a process that requires some expertise," said Ali. "I don't think that the science and logic of drawing maps should supersede the desires and wishes of the citizens of Pennsylvania, as long as they're within reason."

The governor's office also announced a new website where Pennsylvanians can offer feedback on the congressional redistricting process, submit their own proposed maps, and outline communities of interest.

PA's population grew by only 2.4% in the last decade, and so the state will lose a U.S. House seat.

Pennsylvania's Legislative Reapportionment Commission, which helps create the state House and Senate district maps, is having an additional public comment hearing tomorrow in Harrisburg, that will be livestreamed.

Maria Gutierrez, director of membership of the Latino grassroots organization CASA, said these hearings give people a chance to share why they think it's important to keep communities together.

"Our communities want to express that they want not to be divided," said Gutierrez. "They want to be count[ed] as part of a great community, and not to be divided in sections so their political power be diminished."

The House State Government Committee has also rescheduled its three redistricting hearings, to be held in October instead of this month, to accommodate state lawmakers' early return to the Capitol.

Residents who want to provide in-person testimony at those hearings can sign up online, at 'paredistricting.com' by October 13.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Researchers, nonprofits, and public-policy advocates continue to analyze census data released late this summer.

An increase in diversity was a big theme for Minnesota's numbers, prompting more discussion about meeting the needs of racial groups representing the growth. Since 2010, 85 of Minnesota's 87 counties saw growth in their Hispanic and Latino populations, while 72 recorded an increase in their Black populations.

Allison Liuzzi, project director for Minnesota Compass, a social indicators project, said in some cases, the gains were relatively small, but she said the overall changes are significant because Minnesota is playing catch-up to many other parts of the U.S.

"The trend is taking hold across the state such that we're seeing our state become much more like other more racially and ethnically diverse states across the nation," Liuzzi reported.

She argued a more diverse population can help stabilize a county's workforce as employers face difficulty in filling positions. She suggested the trends should prompt the education system to ensure schools are more culturally responsive to students from different racial backgrounds.

Detailed age estimates were not included in the latest release, but Liuzzi noted Minnesota is still projected to see more older adults, resulting in greater infrastructure needs.

Mike Dean, executive director of LeadMN, an association for community college students, said it received support from the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation to help with census outreach ahead of last year's count.

Dean pointed out the work was vital, as Minnesota hung on to all of its congressional seats by a thin margin.

"And if not, that just means less of a voice in D.C. and particularly, right now, with so much conversation going on around COVID relief, how do we improve the economy?" Dean remarked.

Dean emphasized their outreach was especially geared toward elevating BIPOC voices at the community college level as the census took shape. He feels maintaining representation in Congress could help those students carve out a better future for themselves.

"We all know that really, higher education is a pathway to having a strong middle class," Dean contended. "And, you know, having a more diverse community is really critical with this that we invest in higher education."

Additional 2020 census data is expected next year. This fall, the Census Bureau is expected to release its latest American Community Survey estimates, which will give a better reflection of how populations were impacted by the pandemic.

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Pennsylvania's Legislative Reapportionment Commission, the body tasked with creating the state's legislative maps based on U.S. census data, voted 3 to 2 to end what advocates call prison gerrymandering.

The practice, which has been banned in 11 other states, is when people are counted as residents of where they are incarcerated, rather than their last known address. The resolution to end prison gerrymandering was brought by commission member and House Minority Leader, Rep. Joanna McClinton, D-Philadelphia.

Salewa Ogunmefun of Pennsylvania Voice said Tuesday's vote is a historic and monumental win for the state.

"I'm just grateful for leadership who understand how important it really was to make sure we can count incarcerated people at their home addresses," Ogunmefun stated. "Where they have ties to the community, and where we have representatives that are actually going to do what they need in order to represent the interests of those people."

The commission is made up of four members of the General Assembly and one nonpartisan chair. Pennsylvania has about 39,000 residents currently incarcerated in state facilities.

A 2019 study from Villanova University showed that if incarcerated people were counted at home, a Black Pennsylvania resident would gain more than 350 voters in their district.

Robert Saleem Holbrook, executive director of the Abolitionist Law Center, is celebrating the commission vote, but sees it as only a partial victory, because people incarcerated for life without parole aren't included in the decision.

"And I feel as though if there's any prisoners that should benefit from prison gerrymandering ruling, it should be lifers," Holbrook asserted. "Because these are people who are permanently removed from their communities, and transplanted in these rural communities but have no connection, no ties, no relationships to those communities."

The House State Government Committee is hosting hearings throughout the Commonwealth prior to the map-making process, where residents can offer public testimony. The commission expects to receive usable data for redrawing districts at the end of September.