Connecticut organizations call on legislature to end prison gerrymandering

Connecticut-based organizations call on the legislature to finally end prison gerrymandering this upcoming session

by Aleks Kajstura, January 7, 2015

Yesterday, Connecticut-based organizations called on the legislature to finally end prison gerrymandering in this upcoming session:

January 6, 2015

Dear Senator Coleman and Representative Tong,

We, the undersigned Connecticut-based organizations, urge the legislature to pass legislation to end “prison gerrymandering.” Currently, the state allows the Census Bureau’s method of counting incarcerated populations to skew the redistricting process, undermining the principle of “one person, one vote.”

The Census Bureau tabulates incarcerated people at prison locations, rather than in the home communities they come from and to which the vast majority will return. When Connecticut uses unadjusted Census Bureau data to draw electoral districts, voters who live in districts that contain prisons are granted undue additional political clout, and the votes cast by residents everywhere else are diluted.

Connecticut law directly conflicts with how the Census Bureau counts people in prison: “No person shall be deemed to have lost his residence in any town by reason of his absence therefrom in any institution maintained by the state.” (Sec. 9-14.) Furthermore, 28% of the people incarcerated in Connecticut retain their right to vote because they have not been convicted of a felony. Connecticut law requires people who vote from prison to vote absentee as residents of their home districts, never from the prison districts. (Sec. 9-14a).

Prison gerrymandering has a dramatic impact on Connecticut’s democracy in general, and the voting strength of communities of color in particular. There are almost enough people incarcerated in Connecticut prisons alone to constitute an entire state house district. The prison population in Connecticut is disproportionately (73%) African-American and Latino but the Census Bureau credits most of the prison population to five majority-White towns that have large prisons. Using this flawed data to draw electoral districts serves to enhance the weight of a vote cast in those majority-White towns and dilutes the votes of everyone else in the state.

The Connecticut legislature should join New York, Maryland, Delaware and California in passing legislation to protect our democracy from the Census Bureau’s flawed prison counts. We note that the towns of Enfield and Cheshire already reject prison gerrymandering when drawing town council districts, and it’s time for our state legislature to follow their lead.

We urge you to act quickly to avoid the risk that yet another legislative redistricting cycle will take place with almost 17,000 Connecticut residents unnecessarily counted in the wrong place.

We thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Sincerely,

A Better Way Foundation
ACLU of Connecticut
Career Resources, Inc.
Common Cause Connecticut
Community Partners in Action
Connecticut National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
CT Citizen Action Group
League of Women Voters of Connecticut
National Association of Social Workers – Connecticut (NASW-CT)