Jackson Free Press

The battle over African American-majority legislative districts continues this week in the state capitol after a confusing series of dueling redistricting proposals failed to stick--two from the Mississippi House of Representatives; one from the Senate; and a fourth especially controversial effort by Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant.

Critics complained that the House's first plan would create black or white super-majority districts and, especially, pack too many black voters into "minority-majority districts." The Senate rejected the House version in an unusual move, responding with a scaled-back plan that would still create a majority-black Senate District 41 in Hattiesburg.

Bryant then proposed his substitute Senate plan to diffuse black voting strength in the Hattiesburg district--but the Senate rejected that plan, saying that it would not get past the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Senate then returned to its original plan, sending it back to the House for approval. In response, the House revived its redistricting plan creating more minority-majority districts and sent it back to the Senate as an amendment to the Senate bill.

"The battle lines to be drawn will be whether or not Phil Bryant will concur," said Rep. Bobby Moak, D-Bogue Chitto.

But Bryant has proved a logjam in the redistricting process so far. The Senate ended the hold-up last week after it struck down his substitute redistricting plan with a 35-to-16 vote. Under the Senate's reconstituted plan, District 41 has majority-black voting population of 59.06 percent, up from 38.21 percent, by absorbing black voters from neighboring districts.

During debate, critics of Bryant's plan, including Legislative Reapportionment Committee Chairman Terry Burton, R-Newton, argued that the U.S. Department of Justice must pre-clear Mississippi's redistricting plan under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which encourages states to create minority voting districts, and may not approve a plan that pointedly destroys a black-majority district.

Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act provides protection against discriminatory dilution of minority populations. Section 5, however, requires the DOJ to pre-clear redistricting plans from Mississippi and other states with a history of vote suppression.

Bryant said during a March 8 public appearance at Eudora Welty Library that he opposed Burton's Senate redistricting plan because it put the state under the thumb of the U.S. Department of Justice. The gubernatorial candidate said complying with the DOJ is like "paying the firing squad to shoot me last," adding that he is itching for a fight.

"It is literally like paying ransom. You've got to have more majority-minority districts, and maybe they'll let us get by; maybe they'll approve (our plan)," Bryant said. "What country are we in? What have we become?"

But senators rejected Bryant's redistricting plan because of the DOJ guidelines and the possibility that they would have to run in newly approved districts in 2012. "[W]ithout pre-clearance, you're running for a one-year term, and all of us want to avoid that," said Sen. Hob Bryan, D-
Amory, minutes before the Senate vote killing Bryant's plan.

Each chamber must now receive approval for its redistricting plan from the opposite chamber. (Similar to the Senate's vote last week, House members also beat back a Republican-backed plan to amend the House redistricting plan with a plan more favorable to Republican politicians.)

Now that the House has approved the Senate's plan--complete with a revived House redistricting map attachment--the altered resolution must appear before the Senate for a vote of concurrence. This is the Senate's opportunity to vote to concur on the districts that both the House and the Senate have drawn for themselves. If at least 27 senators approve the House's addition, the plan moves on to the Department of Justice for preclearance. If Bryant convinces a majority of the Senate to oppose concurrence, the House and the Senate will have to work out their differences with the bill in conference.

Bryant said he supported the Senate committee's decision last week to kill the House bill because it does not create enough Republican districts in the House. "This means not another Republican would get elected to the House of Representatives for the next decade," he said.

Moak said he hoped a majority of senators would work to keep the redistricting process as smooth as possible to avoid having to run for election a second time next year. Bryant, however, confirmed last week that his motivation is not helping senators avoid running for election a second time, but to promote a more Republican-friendly House.

"Call your senators and tell them to leave that House bill where it's at: on the floor. We'll start over. We'll go back and draw a fairer plan. If not, it will go to court and we will run again," Bryant said. "Oh, they say the worst thing in the world is that we may have to run twice. OK ... (but) these are defining moments. This is the most important vote we're liable to make in the next decade."