By Constitution Staff

This will be the first redistricting in Oklahoma where the Republican Party has held a majority in both houses of the Oklahoma Legislature.

Every ten years, the Oklahoma Legislature is faced with the task of "redistricting," where state lawmakers use the latest Census data to redraw the state's political districts. Oklahoma's congressional districts (currently five) and 149 legislative districts (101 House and 48 Senate seats), must be adjusted so that each will have a nearly equal number of residents. The 2010 Census data must be provided to the state no later than April 1, 2011, and the Legislature is scheduled to have a redistricting plan when the Legislature adjourns at the end of May. A plan must be in place in time for the 2012 elections.

If the Legislature fails to act, the state constitution places redistricting in the hands of an Apportionment Commission. Under current law, the commission is composed of three members: the Attorney General, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the State Treasurer. Currently, all three of those offices are held by Democrats, although that may not be the case after the November election. In the interest of making the commission bipartisan, State Question 748 was placed on the November ballot. The measure increases the number of members from three to seven, with the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Governor each required to appoint one Democrat and one Republican. The seventh member of the commission would be the Lieutenant Governor, who would chair the Commission, but would be a nonvoting member. The proposal requires orders of apportionment to be signed by at least four members of the Commission.

This will be the first redistricting in Oklahoma where the Republican Party has held a majority in both houses of the Oklahoma Legislature. And, if Mary Fallin is elected governor, the GOP will be assured of complete control of the process. But, if the process is not carried out in a fair manner, Democrats could challenge the plan as has happened in the past with Republicans making a challenge when Democrats controlled the process.

Last April, Senate President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee (R-Oklahoma City) named Co-Chairmen and Co-Vice Chairmen for the 2010 Senate Redistricting Committee in order to lay the groundwork for the process. Senators Clark Jolley (R-Edmond) and Mike Schulz (R-Altus) will serve as Co-Chairmen of the committee, joined by Co-Vice Chairmen Senators Andrew Rice (D-Oklahoma City) and Sean Burrage (D-Claremore). Since Senator Coffee is term-limited and cannot seek re-election, he left the appointment of other committee members to the new Senate leader who will be selected following the November elections. "Redistricting is a constitutionally mandated function of the Legislature in conjunction with the Census which is conducted every ten years," said Coffee. "It's vital that all Oklahomans are fairly and equally represented as we draw legislative and Congressional district boundaries, and I'm confident the leadership we have on this committee will see that vital duty is carried out in a very professional and bipartisan manner."

House Speaker Chris Benge is also term-limited and did not organize a redistricting committee. However, in August, incoming House Speaker-Designate Kris Steele (R-Shawnee) named five Republicans and three Democrats to serve on the House Redistricting Steering Committee.

Representatives Dale DeWitt (R-Braman) and John Trebilcock (R-Broken Arrow) will serve as the co-chairmen of the House committee. House Minority Leader Danny Morgan (D-Prague) and Rep. Paul Roan (D-Tishomingo) will serve as co-vice chairmen. The other members named to the committee are Reps. Jabar Shumate (D-Tulsa), Jeff Hickman (R-Fairview), Randy McDaniel (R-Oklahoma City) and Lisa Billy (R-Purcell).

"We want to ensure that this process is bipartisan and fair as we construct appropriate districts to reflect the changing population of our state," said Steele. "I have complete faith that these members will put in the hard work necessary to ensure Oklahomans remain well-represented at the state Legislature and in Congress."

The first task of the committees will be to create guidelines for redistricting, which will serve as the framework as the lines are redrawn. The committees will examine the law governing redistricting and the process required, develop a time line for the various tasks to be completed, establish guidelines, and will help communicate the plan of action with the public and other legislative colleagues.

It is expected that the new census will show that the state's urban areas have added population, while the rural areas (particularly in the western portion of the state) have continued to decline.

Republican control of the Legislature has mostly been the result of gains in the urban areas, more particularly the growing suburban communities. Meanwhile, the Democrats have tried to hang on to their seats in the central cities and the rural areas. But, the GOP is making gains in those areas as well. This next round of redistricting could place Democrat legislators on the endangered species list, as more legislative seats are added in the growing suburban areas, and seats in the declining rural areas are collapsed. Look for the seats of term-limited Democrats in the rural areas to disappear, as new Republican-leaning suburban districts are created.

While the state lost a congressional seat 10 years ago, it is expected that Oklahoma will retain all five seats this time. But, the district lines will need to be adjusted to account for shifts of population in the state. Since there is currently only one Democrat in the delegation, Dan Boren in the 2nd District, the GOP could be tempted to shift more Republican voters to the district to make it more competitive. But, that would mean narrowing the Republican margins in the other districts, possibly making them more vulnerable.

While the districts are supposed to be near equal in population, this does not mean there will be an equal number of voters. With the onslaught of illegal aliens to the state, the official count is adversely affected by the inclusion of these non-citizens in the count. The Census Bureau also counts prisoners as residents of the prison location even though they can't vote and they remain legal residents of the places they lived before they were incarcerated. This means that even out of state prisoners housed by the private prisons in the state are counted for redistricting purposes.

Another anomaly included in the census is the counting of college students where they reside during the school year. Many of those students are actually registered to vote at their permanent place of residence at their parent's home.

These quirks can result in some districts having significantly fewer actual voters than other districts. In an effort to "fix" the census data, legislation has been introduced in some states to adjust the population to correct these discrepancies. The state of Kansas already adjusts the federal census counts of military personnel and students.

While redistricting in the past has sometimes resulted in egregious gerrymandering with odd shaped and inefficient areas, recent efforts in Oklahoma have attempted to be more objective. Where possible, districts have tried to mirror permanent governmental boundaries such as county lines. At least from the early pronouncements, it appears that every effort will be made to promote a sound plan to secure the most accurate representation within the state.