LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The Arkansas Board of Apportionment has approved its House and Senate district maps based on 2020 U.S. Census data, and voting-rights groups say the board failed to meet its own criteria to ensure fair representation for all.
On its website, the Board of Apportionment said its redistricting principles include keeping communities of interest “whole,” and avoiding “splintering” a county or city based on political divisions.
Kwami Abdul-Bey, founder of Arkansans for a Unified Natural State, said he believes those were not upheld in the mapmaking process. He pointed out Pulaski County, Arkansas’ most populous, is now splintered in the Senate and House maps.
“When you break up a city into three different state House or state Senate districts that can easily be kept into one district by drawing the map with the concern for keeping that city together, that to us raised red flags,” Abdul-Bey explained.
He argued the result dilutes the voting power of communities of color in the county, and some groups in the state are considering legal action to prevent the new district lines from going into effect Dec. 30.
Loriee Evans, lead organizer for Indivisible Little Rock and Central Arkansas, said in particular, there are concerns partisan interests played a role in creating the maps, with 74 House districts favoring the Republican Party.
The Board of Apportionment is made up of the governor, attorney general and secretary of state, all of whom are Republicans. Evans stressed she hopes future maps are created by a nonpartisan group.
“Absolutely every Arkansan should be looking at these maps and saying, ‘Let’s have an independent redistricting commission, which will make sure that every single Arkansas community gets a fair shot at electing their own representative,'” Evans contended.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson has said he was pleased with the process, and believes the maps will “shape equal representation for our state for the next decade.”
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