Help End Prison Gerrymandering Prison gerrymandering funnels political power away from urban communities to legislators who have prisons in their (often white, rural) districts. More than two decades ago, the Prison Policy Initiative put numbers on the problem and sparked the movement to end prison gerrymandering.

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—Peter Wagner, Executive DirectorDonate

Vega Alta Municipio, Puerto Rico

According to the 2000 Census, Vega Alta Municipio, Puerto Rico has a population of 37,910 people. Of those, 33,397 (88%) are White, 2,360 (6%) are Black, and 37,669 (99%) are Latino[1]. However, 421 (or 1% of the 37,910 people) are not residents by choice but are people in prison.

Even though prisoners cannot participate in the local community, the Census Bureau nevertheless counts them as residents of the county where they are incarcerated.

A more accurate description would not include the prisoners. This would give Vega Alta Municipio a population of 37,489 with a demographic that is 88% White, 6% Black, and 99% Latino.

Reported in
Census 2000		 Incarcerated
population		 Actual
population
Total 37,910 421 37,489
White 33,397 346 33,051
Black 2,360 54 2,306
Latino 37,669 419 37,250


Notes:

[1]The numbers for Whites, Blacks and Latinos may not add up to the total number because we have not included racial groups other than Whites and Blacks and because the Census Bureau considers "Latino" to be an ethnicity, not a race. Most of the people reported as being Latino are also counted as being White or Black.



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