Mississippi Advisory Opinions March 02, 2001: AGO 2001-0110 (March 02, 2001)

Advisory Opinion Text

Raymond G. O'Neal, Esquire

Attorney for Town of Mantachie

Post Office Box 697

Fulton, Mississippi 38843

Re: Redistricting

Dear Mr. O'Neal:

Attorney General Mike Moore has received your letter of request and assigned it to me for research and reply. Your letter states:

I have been asked by the Board of Alderman for the Town of Mantachie to write and ask for an opinion related to election law. In 1994 the town sought to annex 4 areas, plats 1, 2, 3, & 4. Without opposition, 1, 2 and 3 were approved by the Chancery Court on 12/8/1994. Area 4 was approved by the Chancery Court on January 19, 1995, but this was appealed and ultimately approved by the Mississippi Supreme Court on December 12, 1995. The U.S. Justice Department approved of this in March of 1997, and all residents voted in the ensuing municipal election. We have not received the 2000 census results. The town had estimated with assistance from the Three Rivers Planning and Development district that the population of the town prior to the final annexation of plat 4, was 885. The annexation of plat 4 increased the population by 131 to 1016 based upon the estimates provided at that time. According to the U.S. Census, 1990 population of the town was 661.

All of the annexations have been approved by the Justice Department under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. One citizen has voiced concerns to city officials and states that the wards must be redrawn prior to this election based upon the number of people voting in different wards in the presidential election.

The city officials believe that since census figures likely will not be available until April, and the current situation has been approved by the Justice Department, it is not going to be practicable to re-align the wards before the May/June primary elections.

Is the city required to redraw the wards without having census information available?

In response to your inquiry, municipalities are required to have ward redistricting plans that satisfy the “one person, one vote” standard by keeping the total population deviation between wards below 10%, if possible, and if the deviation exceeds 10%, to justify the excess with consistently applied, nondiscriminatory redistricting policies. Brown v. Thomson , 462 U.S. 835 (1983) .

States and local subdivisions have ordinarily used the population figures generated by the federal decennial census to determine if redistricting is required. Absent an order from a court of competent jurisdiction to the contrary, we know of nothing that would require a municipality to redraw ward lines prior to obtaining information from the 2000 census.

Sincerely,

Mike Moore, Attorney General

Phil Carter, Special Assistant Attorney General