The 2020 census surveys haven’t quite made it to Louisiana yet, but five bills introduced in the state Legislature aim to shape Louisiana’s redistricting policies.
The “2020 Election Integrity Package,” put up by various state representatives, is backed by nonprofits Fair Districts Louisiana and the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice.
Baton Rouge area Reps. Barry Ivey, a Republican, and Ted James, a Democrat, have also signed on to two of the bills, which mostly come from Democratic legislators. Ivey is the only Republican sponsoring a bill in the package and is the sole author of a bill that would create a public redistricting website.
“I am excited to bring HB 565 that will provide a portal where the people of Louisiana can engage and stay informed throughout the redistricting process. The purpose of transparency is to bring about accountability, but that only happens when the public engages. I hope the web portal can be a tool that will help make the act and process of public engagement as convenient as possible,” Ivey says in an announcement about the package.
James and New Orleans-area Democratic Rep. Aimee Adatto Freeman have put up a bill that would mandate prisoners are counted at their last known address rather than where they are currently in prison.
The actual redistricting process won’t begin until 2021, but because of Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards re-election last fall, the new district lines aren’t expected to breeze through the legislative process.
The five bills in the package are:
• House Bill 623: Creating an 18-member, bipartisan study and advisory commission to make recommendations to the Legislature;
• House Bill 625: Mandating prisoners are included in the population count from their last known address rather than where they are incarcerated;
• House Bill 565: Creating a state redistricting website with real-time updates, data, redistricting rules and laws, and a place for public comment;
• House Bill 419: Allowing every voter to vote by mail and requiring the state to provide pre-paid postage;
• House Bill 576: Changing the rules for purging voter rolls, including expanding the time before registration is canceled from two regular federal general elections to four, notifying a voter if they are being removed from the list, requiring regular audits of the inactive list, and prohibiting a registration from being canceled within 120 days before an election.
All of the bills have been referred to the House and Governmental Affairs Committee.
“As part of that analysis, we identified the system’s most urgent needs and researched associated best practices. In consultation with numerous legislators and experts, we determined that these five bills best address these needs and should be given priority during the 2020 spring session,” Fair Districts Louisiana said in its announcement supporting the bills.
