District lines to be reshaped

During a special session of the Alabama Legislature that concluded at 4 a.m. Thursday, Republican members of the House and Senate voted to approve new district lines that have many Democrats crying foul.

Following state guidelines that call for reapportionment of state Senate and House districts every ten years based on new census data, the Alabama Legislature approved new district lines that split several counties apart and moved other counties to different districts.

The reapportionment plans are now awaiting approval from Governor Robert Bentley. If approved by Bentley, the plans will have to be reviewed by the U.S. Department of Justice before becoming final, which is a customary process with states that have a history of discrimination such as Alabama.

According to several Democratic members of the Senate, the review by the Department of Justice is necessary since they have expressed that the plans are no more than “racial gerrymandering” and an attempt to diminish Democratic political power and further strengthen Republican control at the state level.

Sen. Roger Bedford said the proposed district lines “pack” and “stack” African American voters in minority districts with the purpose of diluting minority voting strength in counties where the minority vote would have represented 30 percent of the district under the old district lines.

Under the proposed district lines, Bedford said the districts with a white majority but an African American minority population of at least 30 percent were reduced to a five percent minority, which would reduce the effect of minority votes.

“Think of it this way – when you have a district that largely consists of the white population, but 30 percent of that district is still represented by the African American population, you have to consider the wants and needs of that 30 percent because that makes up one-third of your district,” Bedford said. “With these new district lines that have been proposed by the Republican super majority, those numbers have been reduced to five percent.

“When African Americans represent only five percent of your district, how likely will some senators be to listen to their voice and their opinions? It has completely diminished the impact the black vote will have in those areas.”

In addition to the supposed racial implications Bedford feels the proposed district lines represent, he said the plans will essentially “tear apart” many district that have developed strong community ties over the past several years.

In Franklin County, the new Senate district lines will have little effect physically as the entire county will still remain part of District 6, which will continue to be represented by Bedford.

However, instead of District 6 including Fayette, Lamar, Marion and Winston counties, Bedford will be representing all of Colbert County, half of Marion County and portions of southwest Lauderdale County including Waterloo.

Fayette will be represented by a senator from Jasper, Lamar will be represented by a senator from Tuscaloosa and east Marion County, will be represented by a senator from Cullman.

“I am glad that Franklin County was fortunate enough to remain intact with the Senate district lines, but it’s sad that the rest of my Senate district was butchered,” Bedford said. “Tearing a county apart and rearranging the old district destroys community unity and hinders projects that we were already partnering on in order to bring more economic development and jobs to our area.

“We have been working for a long time on the opening of I-22 and that unity of interest will now be divided up if these plans get approved.

“I will be honored to represent the people of Colbert County and parts of Lauderdale County if that’s the way it goes, but I just think it’s a shame to put political interests above community unity and economic development for the improvement of our state. But that’s what the Republican super majority has chosen to do.”

The proposed House district lines would cause more physical division for Franklin County, which is currently part of Rep. Johnny Mack Morrow’s District 18.

According to the proposed plans, the county would be divided with the east half of Franklin County becoming part of District 7, which is represented by Republican Ken Johnson from Moulton.

Morrow could not be reached for comment, but Bedford said this move in the House would even further divide the community and separate the interests of the constituents in this area.

Bedford said he is also worried about what the proposed district lines would do to the rebuilding and recovery projects that are still ongoing in places like East Franklin and Hackleburg, since Hackleburg wouldn’t be part of his district and East Franklin wouldn’t be part of Morrow’s district under the new plans.

“Up until this point we have worked together to make sure East Franklin, Phil Campbell and Hackleburg were getting the funding they needed to recover from last year’s tornado outbreak,” Bedford said. “With Hackleburg being represented by a senator from Cullman, and the eastern part of Franklin County losing Johnny Mack as their representative, I really feel like it could do some harm when it comes to further economic development in this area.”

Bedford said he believes the redistricting and the way the approval process was handled during the special session on Thursday was unconstitutional, which is why he said he sent a letter to Gov. Bentley urging him to refrain from signing off on the plans.

“We pray that Governor Bentley will listen to our concerns and will veto this legislation that is clearly unconstitutional,” Bedford said. “However, should he sign these bills, we are prepared to proceed with taking the appropriate action necessary to protect the rights of our constituents and the citizens of Alabama.”