Reapportionment strategy for Seney-Stoval session and beyond
Reapportionment Talking Points
May 2011
I. Background
II. Sample Press Questions
III. Talking Points: Fairness, Transparency and Equality
IV. Sample Questions at Public Hearings
I. Background
When Caucus Members are speaking in public venues – forums, town halls, places of worship, media interviews, etc. – to remain within the reapportionment/redistricting language provided by the Caucus Legal team, special talking points have been adopted for use.
Questions you may get from constituents or from local reporters may be very different than you expect. Even seemingly simple questions such as “Will your district remain intact?” may lead to a longer conversation and these questions should be answered using one of the several points provided below. At the very least, your answers will provide media practice.
Reporters are trained to ask the same question two or three different ways in an attempt to catch you off guard or garner a response they are seeking. When in doubt these tips may be helpful:
· If you are in front of a reporter, take a breath to think about your response – your pause will not be reported or filmed.
· If a reporter phones you, ask when her deadline is and ask if you can call her back in 15 minutes. The time can be used to collect your thoughts and prepare your message. Reporters understand you might not be available the moment they call.
· Think about the two or three main issues you want to convey to the public/reporter and hold those in mind. You cannot recite all of the points, but you can choose a couple of themes, as you answer questions. Remember, you can control the interview. You must answer the question, but necessarily the way it’s asked. Pivot to the response you want to give and don’t allow reporters to control the interview.
· Your Communications Team is ready to help. Please contact us with any concerns you have.
II. Sample Press Questions
Under each of the three main themes our Caucus has adopted, you will find specific talking points (or answers to reporter questions).
1. Example Question: As a member of the minority party, how do you plan to be involved in the reapportionment process? Do you really have any power?
A: Through this process, it is the role of minority party to be certain the map drawing process is fair and transparent. We are elected to represent the voters, who should be central in the map drawing process.
2. Example Question: But isn’t this process purely political? Aren’t the Republicans in control, as the Democrats were years ago?
A: The purpose of reapportionment is not to favor the election of any political party. The goal is fairness. We must make sure that a district, and eventually the legislature, accurately reflects the cultural, economic, social and political demographics of the state. The emphasis should be on fairness to voters, not political parties.
3. Example Question: Will your seat be protected?
A: The reapportionment process is not about protecting anyone’s seat. It is about guaranteeing that every citizen has fair representation. I will work hard to guarantee that the process for drawing all seats in the legislature is fair.
4. Example Question: The 2010 Census shows increasing minority populations in Georgia. Should there be seats drawn to reflect these different groups?
A: Redistricting lines should reflect communities of interest, in whatever manner that is defined by the community. The new maps must be fair to all citizens, transparent and equal.
III. Talking Points
Our reapportionment acronym is FTE:
Fairness, Transparency and Equality.
FAIRNESS
The reapportionment process must be fairly applied to all voters.
· Districts must neither be overly compact, nor overly extended.
o It is unfair, for example, to create districts with an unusually high concentration of demographically similar voters. A packed district is unfair to both the included and excluded.
o Voters should be able to define their own communities. The maps should reflect city and county lines and communities in a consistent way.
o Maps should not be distorted either by state or local political issues.
· Districts must be responsive to change over time. These maps must be used for 10 years, not just 2012.
· Maps should reflect should accurately reflect voting patterns. (For example, President Obama won 48 percent of the total vote in a very large 2008 turnout. Obama also won 41 percent of Georgia’s legislative districts).
TRANSPARENCY
· The map drawing process must be fair and open. There must be transparency in every aspect of the process.
· Citizen review and input is critical. Every effort should be made to include voters in the process of how they will be governed for years to come.
· Citizen input cannot happen only once during a hearing. They must be given an opportunity to comment on proposed maps and react to the recommended lines.
If asked what citizens can do or how they can become involved:
· Attend local public hearings.
· Sign up to speak to be certain their concerns are made part of the public record.
· Attend organizational and community briefings on reapportionment. (Contact local places of worship, civic organizations and affinity groups)
EQUALITY
· Principles used to draw districts must be equally applied throughout the state and across the map. These principles must be applied statewide, not regionally.
· Reapportionment must apply to all voters.
o Citizens should be able to define their own communities.
o The purpose of reapportionment is not to favor the election of any political party. The goal is to make sure that a district, and eventually the legislature, accurately reflects cultural, economic, social, and political demographics of the state. The emphasis should be on voters, not political parties.
o All voters are equal under the Constitution.
· Principles used to draw maps must apply to the State House and to the State Senate. No one is a special case.
IV. Sample Public Hearing Questions:
Legislator Questions
- How will the communities of interest be defined in our neighborhoods?
- Will the new maps try to preserve municipal and county lines? In other words, will the lines make geographic sense? If not, how will you determine how they are divided?
- In Columbus, Ohio, citizens were barred from asking questions during the reapportionment hearings by the Republican majority. Will the General Assembly of Georgia abide by the principles of fairness and transparency and allow public comment during the redistricting hearings at the Capitol in August?
- How can citizens participate in the map-making process beyond these hearings? Will the Reapportionment Committee let them participate as the maps are being developed rather than seeing them right before adoption?
Community Questions
- What is a community of interest? (Be prepared to offer suggestions. Speak specifically of the communities in your area, based on schools, neighborhoods, languages and traffic patterns.)
- Can our community offer an alternative map? Will you pledge today to hold hearings during the special session to review these proposed alternate maps?
- Will you commit to creating a bi-partisan citizen commission to guarantee that the 45 percent minority population of Georgia is protected in this process?
- When will citizens be able to see the proposed maps and comment on them before they are adopted by the legislature? How will we be notified?
- Has anyone already begun to draw lines? If so, who is doing the line-drawing? How can we monitor the process?
- Who, from our community, serves on the Reapportionment Committee? How was this person selected?
- How will you ensure that the districts are not packed to give a particular party a guaranteed seat at the expense of the voters?
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