FoxNews : Redistricting Latinos : Texas could gain 4 congressional seats, Florida could get 2, and Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Washington could each gain 1 - New Jersey could lose one

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FoxNews
Fox News Latino
Reduced Immigration Won't Hurt Latino Political Power
By Elizabeth Llorente
December 08, 2010

Reduced Immigration Won't Hurt Latino Political Power


Some excerpts :

The Voting Rights Act prohibits state and local governments from diluting the votes of minority groups through such actions as, say, drawing district lines that divide minority communities and keep them from having a collective impact on voting for a representative of their choice.

In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court found that a congressional redistricting plan drafted by Texas Republicans to tilt the state’s delegation to their party diluted the voting power of Latinos, in violation of the Voting Rights Act.

Texas could gain four congressional seats, Florida could get two, and Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah and Washington could each gain one.

“In the end it’s Hispanics, I think we’ll see, who are a big part of the reason those states are getting extra seats,” said Daniel Santo-Pietro, a Latino community leader in New Jersey, which may lose a seat.

“In New Jersey, losing a congressional seat may set off redistricting battles,” Santo-Pietro said. “There’s been a change in Latino communities – there’s been a lot of Latino immigrant growth in the southern part of the state.”

On a national level, the Census’s impact on redistricting may be “a wash” for Latinos, at worst, said Santo-Pietro.

“Even though New Jersey might be losing a seat,” he said, “states with some of the largest Latino populations are gaining.”

In the meantime, Latino civil rights groups say they will be closely watching the Census 2010 results when they are released in detail after February. On Dec. 31, the Census will release state population totals.

NALEO will be in several states that have large Latino populations, urging Latinos to attend redistricting hearings.

“Legislators hold these hearings so they can get testimony from the community that will help them see how to draw the district,” Gold said. “We’re going to really be keeping an eye on this.”

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