Press Release: 2021-10-18
Drawing Democracy Urges Changes to Senate Redistricting Map for Haverhill, Brockton and Boston
Drawing Democracy Urges Changes to Senate Redistricting Map for Haverhill, Brockton and Boston:
Proposed districts risk diluting voting power of BIPOC communities
| PRESS RELEASE October 15, 2021 |
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BOSTON – Today at a public hearing hosted by the Special Joint Committee on Redistricting, advocates from the Drawing Democracy Coalition called for changes to the proposed redistricting map for the Massachusetts State Senate. Specifically, the Coalition believes that the proposed map misses key opportunities to create more equitable representation for BIPOC communities in Haverhill, Brockton and Boston and risks diluting their voting power.
The Coalition points to Redistricting Committee Co-Chair Senator William Brownsberger’s heavy reliance on the use of Citizen Voting Age Population (CVAP), rather than total population from the 2020 Census, to draw the districts as a key reason why the map fell short for these communities. CVAP leaves out large segments of the population, especially young people and immigrants, thus weakening long-term opportunities for building political power. It is not typically used for redistricting in other states and was not used to conduct redistricting in Massachusetts in 2011.
“Massachusetts has a once-in-a-decade opportunity to advance racial equity and strengthen our democracy through redistricting, but the proposed Senate map misses that opportunity by relying too heavily on CVAP,” said Beth Huang, convener of the Drawing Democracy Coalition and Executive Director of the Massachusetts Voter Table. “Solely drawing majority-minority Senate Districts based on CVAP creates short-term opportunities for authentic representation but may foreclose on longer-term opportunities for emerging leaders in rapidly changing communities, especially in Brockton, Randolph and Haverhill. The Voting Rights Act is a safeguard for underrepresentation – not a barrier to representation. We urge the Redistricting Committee to reconsider the configuration of these districts.”
“The legislature missed a vital opportunity to ensure that the BIPOC communities of Brockton and Randolph can elect candidates of their choice,” said Anabel Santiago, lead organizer for the Brockton Interfaith Community. “It just makes sense to follow Drawing Democracy’s recommendation to combine Brockton, Randolph and Stoughton into one Senate district because of their shared interests around homeownership and economic mobility. Instead, the Senate proposed combining Brockton and Randolph with less similar communities, making it harder for BIPOC voters to have their voices heard among supermajorities of white voters. The Senate should reconsider these districts and give the people of Brockton and Randolph the representation they deserve.”
"Haverhill Latinos will become diluted in what appears to be a deliberate attempt to de-stabilize Latino representation in Haverhill proper. Haverhill should stand on its own as the growing diverse population it is," said Graciela Trilla, Ed.D, Secretary of the Latino Coalition of Haverhill, ELE Director/Lead Teacher at Hill View Montessori Charter Public School, and Co-Head of School at Wisteria Montessori, Inc. "Latinos finally have a strong base in numbers and presence in Haverhill with receptive political leaders, only to be split, diminished, diluted, and rendered voiceless in our own municipality, as well as rendering us inconsequential in the Merrimack Valley as the ugly smaller cousin of Lawrence and Methuen. We should not be willing to accept this clearly segregatory effort by the Senate to favor incumbent Lawrence candidates more interested in stockpiling their chances with the Latino vote than lifting the Haverhill Latino voting base."
“The legislature’s proposed Senate map falls short for immigrant communities in Chinatown, South Boston, the South End and Dorchester,” said Lydia Lowe, President of Chinese Progressive Political Action. “Because of the Redistricting Committee’s failure to draw a strong coalition district in addition to a strong majority-Black district in Boston, we fear that the immigrant communities in the First Suffolk District will likely not have the opportunity to elect a candidate of choice. We urge the legislature to redraw these districts in a way that ensures more authentic representation in Boston.”
The Coalition also outlined changes that should be made to the 16th and 19th Suffolk Districts and the 11th and 13th Bristol Districts to strengthen representation in Revere and New Bedford, respectively.
In September, the Drawing Democracy Coalition released their State Senate Unity Map, which increased the number of majority-minority districts based on population from three to seven. The Coalition also released Unity Maps for the State House and Congress, as well as launched the Redistricting & You tool, which allows users to easily compare existing districts and proposed districts.
The Special Joint Committee on Redistricting will be accepting written public comment through Monday, October 18th. Comment can be submitted here.