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The proposed map will be on display for viewing in the foyer of the East Baton Rouge Parish Central Office located at 1050 South Foster Drive, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806. Viewers will be able to submit public comments.
Reapportionment is the redistribution of representation in a legislative body.
Louisiana law La. R.S. 33:1411 provides a mandatory six month timeframe after the official release of the census for all parish governing authorities which provide for the election of its members from wards, districts, or other subdivisions to examine the apportionment plan of its body to determine if there exists any substantial variation in the representation of the election districts and then adopt an ordinance by a majority of its members to either:
(1) declare its apportionment to be equitable and continue its existing apportionment plan
(2) provide for a new apportionment plan.
The law further provides that the boundaries of any election district for a new apportionment plan shall contain whole election precincts established by the parish governing authority under La. R.S. 18:532 or La. R.S. 18:532.1 (La. R.S. 33:1411(C)), unless certain exceptions apply. Additionally, municipalities who are elected by districts, school boards, and city councils shall each examine their respective voting districts under their current apportionment plan to determine whether or not there is a substantial variation. At that time, they will adopt an ordinance either confirming their voting districts are equitable or providing a new plan.
If it is determined that a new plan is needed, the governing body will then meet to discuss and adopt changes to the voting districts. This process may include the use of an outside demographer to assist with creating the plan.
“Unless a different period of time is specified by the constitution or by statute, the governing authority of each local governing body shall reapportion its voting districts by the end of the year following the year in which the population of this state is reported to the president of the United States for each decennial census.” La. R.S. 18:1922
What if an entity fails to redistrict/reapportion?
La. R.S. 18:1922 and La. R.S. 18:1923 provide that failure to meet the time for reapportionment by local governing bodies is misfeasance in office and may subject the governing authority to a loss of state revenue sharing funds.
Implementation of Reapportionment Plans by the Secretary of State’s Office
The Louisiana secretary of state is responsible for establishing a state voter registration computer system for the registration of voters throughout the state, which contains the election jurisdiction for all offices voted on throughout the state. Redistricting plans are required to be submitted to the Secretary of State’s Office by certified mail and to also be sent to the clerk of court and the registrar of voters. La. R.S. 18:1945(C) provides that no redistricting plan shall be implemented unless the plan is received by the secretary of state prior to 4:30 p.m. four weeks prior to the date the qualifying period opens.
If a local government utilizes a geographic information system (GIS) software to develop its redistricting plans, they are required to submit an electronic shapefile to the secretary of state within 10 business days of adoption of the redistricting plan. If they are unable to submit an electronic shapefile, they must submit an ASCII comma delimited block equivalency import file which indicates the census block assignments in the redistricting plan.
The above information has been taken from https://www.sos.la.gov/ElectionsAndVoting/GetElectionInformation/LearnAboutRedistricting/Pages/default.aspx
The East Baton Rouge Parish School Board welcomes all comments, suggestions, and ideas related to redistricting process.
In lieu of online digital submissions, members of the community may submit documents, maps and suggestions related to Redistricting to the front desk of the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board Central Office, located at 1050 South Foster Drive, Baton Rouge. All in person submissions should be left care of:
April Armond EBRPSS Board Secretary
Or
Toni Head Administrative Assistant to the General Counsel
The East Baton Rouge Parish School System and all of its entities (including Career and Technical Education Programs) do not discriminate on the basis of age, race, religion, national origin, disability, or gender in its educational programs and activities (including employment and application for employment), and it is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of gender by Title IX (20 USC 168) and on the basis of disability by Section 504 (42 USC 794). The Title IX Coordinator is Andrew Davis, Director of Risk Management – ADavis6@ebrschools.org, (225) 929-8705. The Section 504 Coordinator is Danielle Staten-Ojo – DStaten@ebrschools.org, (225) 326-5668.
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