Re-alignment map OK’d for elections

An Oct. 22 primary and Nov. 19 general election will proceed as scheduled in Terrebonne Parish after the U.S. Department of Justice offered pre-approval to a voting district map last Wednesday, more than one week before a final deadline.

“This refers to the 2011 parish council redistricting plan,” said DOJ Voting Section Chief T. Christian Herren Jr. “[It includes] the addition and realignment of voting precincts, the designation of their polling places, and polling place changes for Terrebonne Parish.”

Herren said an initial redistricting plan, adopted by the parish council, was received by his office on June 27, and additional information pertaining to that plan was received on Aug. 2. The ultimate deadline for elections to proceed as scheduled, and to avoid having to conduct a special election for political races, was designated as Aug. 26.

“We will make it,” South Central Planning and Development Commission CEO Kevin Belanger said three weeks before the deadline. “We may have to have some precincts share the same polling place, but [voting] will proceed as scheduled.”

“This pre-clearance is validation of the outstanding and efficient efforts by everyone involved in preparation of the reapportionment plan,” Terrebonne Parish Council Chairman Clayton Voisin said.

Voisin credited South Central Planning for working in conjunction with the parish council and staff, the registrar of voters and clerk of court in completing mapping charts and required paperwork to meet legal voting district representation requirements.

“The people of Houma-Terrebonne will greatly benefit from this collaboration of hard work and dedication,” Voisin said.

In accordance with federal law, the parish council is required to re-draw voting districts every 10 years and design them to represent census movement. Louisiana is one of those southern states in which parishes, or counties, are required to secure redistricting maps that guarantee having at least one district where the minority population represents the majority of that area’s voting age census.

In Terrebonne Parish, both District 1, represented by Councilman Alvin Tillman, and District 2, represented by Councilwoman Arlanda Williams meet the minority as a majority criterion.

Belanger said that although both Districts 1 and 2 went from the overall 2000 census number showing a minority majority of approximately 53 percent decrease to just more than 51 percent with the redrawing of lines from 2010 census figures, the number of voting age persons in each of those districts is such that they are guaranteed minority representation to have an advantage in winning an election.

“The attorney general does not interpose any objection to the specific changes [made in the redistricting of Terrebonne Parish],” Herren said.

“However, we note that Section 5 expressly provides that the failure of the attorney general to object does not bar subsequent litigation to enjoin the enforcement of changes,” he said.

Neither Voisin nor Belanger indicated that there are any potential problems to implementing the new redistricting plan.