Latest news with #electoralboundaries
BBC News
4 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Texas redistricting feud escalates as Democrats face bomb and FBI threats
A dispute over a plan to re-draw electoral boundaries in the US state of Texas has escalated again after a senator said the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had agreed to help find Democrats who have fled the FBI would not confirm whether they agreed to help and the senator, Republican John Cornyn of Texas, did not specify what kind of assistance the FBI would comes a day after some Democrats were forced to evacuate a hotel where they were staying in Illinois, as they protest Republicans' efforts to change the map of congressional districtsEarlier this week, US President Donald Trump said the FBI "may" have to get involved. Sen Cornyn said in a statement that FBI Director Kash Patel had "approved my request for the FBI to assist state and local law enforcement in locating runaway Texas House Democrats".On Tuesday, Sen Cornyn wrote to the FBI asking it to get involved, saying he was "concerned that legislators who solicited or accepted funds to aid in their efforts to avoid their legislative duties may be guilty of bribery or other public corruption offenses,". It is not clear whether federal officers were already involved in the search for more than 50 state lawmakers who have left Texas. The location of many of them is well known. On Tuesday they held a press conference in a Chicago-area hotel decrying the gerrymandering escalation comes one day after a bomb threat was called into a hotel where some of the Democrats were staying."This morning, a threat was made against the safety of the members of the Texas House Democratic Caucus," Texas House Democrats wrote on Twitter. "We are safe, we are secure, and we are undeterred. We are grateful for Governor Pritzker, local, and state law enforcement for their quick action to ensure our safety."On Tuesday, Trump was asked whether the FBI should get involved in the matter, and replied "they may have to", adding "it almost looks like [Democrats have] abandoned the state"."I know they want them back. Not only the attorney general, the governor wants them back," Trump said. "So a lot of people have demanded they come back. You can't just sit it out. You have to go back. You have to fight it out. That's what elections are all about." The move to flee the state is part of a tactic to block a vote in the Texas House on redistricting. The proposal by Republicans would create five more Republican-leaning seats in the US House of Representatives, where the party holds a slim least two-thirds of the 150-member state legislative body in Texas must be present to proceed with the vote. The quorum is unreachable while they are out of the Democrats have said the state's governor and Republicans are trying to silence them. Gene Wu, chairman of the Texas House Democratic Caucus, has accused Greg Abbott of seeking to "silence my dissent by removing a duly-elected official from office", and argued "my constitutional duty is to not be a willing participant".
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Stephen Colbert stuns viewers with rare takedown of top Democrat 2028 presidential candidate
Late-night host and outspoken Trump critic Stephen Colbert stunned viewers by challenging Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on his show Tuesday. Colbert grilled the potential 2028 presidential candidate over his state's bizarrely drawn congressional maps, after the governor offered refuge to Texas Democrats fleeing the state over a plan to redraw its own electoral boundaries. The comedian pulled up a graphic of Illinois' congressional districts while discussing Texas Republicans' controversial plan to gerrymander the state's voting maps in their favor. 'If you are considering doing a little more redrawing in Illinois, you already have some crazy districts in Illinois,' Colbert said. 'Take a look at this. Look at [District] 17 here. It does that, then it comes up here, and it sneaks around there and goes all the way up here and then goes right over there like that,' Colbert said, outlining the oddly shaped voting district. 'Is this common for all states to do?' Pritzker attempted to laugh off the jab, joking that a kindergarten class must have drawn up the map. He then insisted it was an 'independent commission' responsible the boundaries. Showing another map, Colbert pointed to its irregular shape. 'It's like a stinger on a scorpion,' he joked. 'So because all states to a certain extent do this, why is what Texas [is] doing particularly egregious in this case?' Pritzker then shifted to discussing Texas Republicans redrawing their map 'at the behest of Donald Trump' and doing so 'mid-decade,' a break from the 10-year redistricting cycle tied to the census. The move could result in the Lone Star State getting five more GOP seats. 'That is extraordinarily rare,' the governor said of the off-cycle attempt. 'And the way they are doing it is taking voting rights away from black and brown people. They are literally obliterating districts that were written according to the Voting Rights Act. 'So this is going to end up in court if they are actually able to do it.'
CBC
27-06-2025
- Politics
- CBC
'Rurban' ridings on the minds of Albertans as electoral boundary meetings conclude
During a Thursday afternoon meeting earlier this month in Brooks, Alta., Justice Dallas Miller, chair of Alberta's new electoral boundaries commission, outlined the central challenge facing the panel. As Alberta's population now nears five million, most of it concentrated in its urban centres, the commission must decide how to redraw the electoral map ahead of the next provincial election. "The population growth, as you know, has not been spread evenly across the province," Miller told attendees, according to transcripts released from the hearing. "We have some challenges, and are hearing from municipalities and areas where there has been huge growth, on how we deal with that growth." The question of where new lines should be drawn has long been a point of debate in Alberta politics, with disagreement around what's fair for both growing urban centres and vast rural areas. The commission held public hearings in late May and throughout June in Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Red Deer and other communities. They wrapped up earlier this week. Where lines get drawn Like Canada's other Prairie provinces, there has been a notably stark urban-rural divide in Alberta in recent provincial elections. The United Conservative Party has dominated in the rural parts of the province, but performed less impressively in the province's two major cities. Electoral boundaries are significant, of course, as they determine which grouping of voters elects each member of the Legislative Assembly to the Alberta Legislature. Every eight to 10 years, a five-member commission is appointed to decide where these lines go. This time around, the province is adding two new ridings, increasing the total number of seats in the legislature from 87 to 89. But one other change may have a longer-term impact, in that the commission is no longer required to align ridings with municipal boundaries. That could open the door to more mixed rural-urban ridings. Distinct perspectives and the rural-urban split Lisa Young, a political science professor at the University of Calgary, said electoral boundaries are intended to try to keep "communities of interest" together — that is, people who might share the same concerns or perspectives because of where they live. "One of the most significant cleavages in contemporary politics is between rural and urban dwellers. Their concerns tend to be different and they often have different perspectives on politics," Young wrote in an email. "It's difficult to make an argument that an electoral district that combines urban and rural really captures communities of interest because of these differences." Under mixed rural-urban ridings, Young said rural dwellers would worry that their votes and their distinct perspectives on political issues would be drowned out by urban dwellers. By the same token, urban dwellers might have the same concerns if they were the smaller group in a mixed district, she said. Keith Archer, who served on a previous Alberta commission and was chief electoral officer in B.C., previously told CBC News that the move was one of the more interesting things to watch in this review. Up until now, it has been clear that electoral districts in the city of Calgary, for instance, should be 100 per cent aligned with the boundaries of the city, he said. "You can imagine, that you could try to have fewer urban electoral districts by having an electoral district that is partly made up of, let's say … the central-eastern part of the city, and extend out into the Chestermere area," Archer said. "You'd have kind of a rural part of the constituency, coupled with an urban part of the constituency … as a way of trying to adjust whether a constituency is principally an urban or a rural district. It'll be interesting whether the commission takes up that opportunity." Participants weigh in Whether Alberta should create more electoral boundaries which mix urban and rural caught the attention of many attendees at this past month's hearings. Craig Burrows-Johnson, who spoke at the Pincher Creek hearing, has lived in both rural Alberta and Calgary. At his hearing, he argued against "so-called 'rurban' ridings." He said he thought rural MLAs should be working on rural issues, including agriculture, small-town revival, surface rights, orphan wells, among others. On the other hand, he thought urban MLAs should focus on problems and opportunities in urban centres. "The MLAs that represent those voters need to concentrate on their issues," he said. "If you spread their zone of responsibility… they're simply not as effective." Dan Hein, who lives in Medicine Hat, Alta., said he decided to attend a meeting in Brooks after reading in meeting transcripts that most of the hearing participants were against "rurban" ridings. He argued that establishing such ridings could lead to fewer representatives being stuck in an "echo chamber" around various matters. "If a representative has to hear from a whole bunch of different viewpoints, he will probably be more rational and reasonable," Hein said. "And I think that'll improve their ability to represent people on a provincial level." Challenging work ahead Alberta's Electoral Boundaries Commission Act states that most ridings must have populations no more than 25 per cent above or below the average size. However, should they meet certain conditions, there is an exception that allows up to four electoral districts to have populations up to 50 per cent below the provincial average. Nine constituencies in Alberta are currently more than 25 per cent above the average size: Calgary-Buffalo, Calgary-Foothills, Calgary-North East, Calgary-Shaw, Calgary-South East, Edmonton-Ellerslie, Edmonton-South, Edmonton-South West, and Airdrie-Cochrane. "There's a possibility of really significant adjustments to electoral boundaries and a shift from the current balance between urban and rural municipalities in favour of urban municipalities," Archer, the former commission member, previously said. "But that runs counter to the support base of the current government. So I expect that the electoral boundaries commission will certainly get an earful in their public hearings, both before the interim report is issued, and before the final report is." The commission, chaired by Justice Miller and made up of members appointed by both government and opposition parties, is expected to release an interim report in October. A final report is expected by March 2026.
CBC
27-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Alberta kicks off electoral boundary review as province swells to 5 million
Amid a surge in the province's population, a process has begun to redraw electoral boundaries in time for Alberta's next provincial election. Electoral boundaries are the dividing lines that determine which group of voters elect each member of the Legislative Assembly to represent them in the Alberta Legislature. The redrawing of those lines is an exercise that has long been a source of tension between urban and rural voices, with cities pushing for representation by population and rural areas emphasizing a need for unique considerations. Provincial law sets out that a five-member commission to review boundaries is to be appointed every eight to 10 years. Public meetings of the latest commission begin this week and will continue through June in locations across Alberta, including in Calgary, Lethbridge, Edmonton and Red Deer, among other communities. It comes as the real-time Statistics Canada population model shows that Alberta has crossed the five-million mark in its population. The majority of the province's population growth has been concentrated in its urban centres. Urban vs. rural debate For decades, critics and cities have charged that Alberta's electoral system favours the rural portion of the province, the base for provincial conservative governments. The report from the 2017 iteration of the electoral boundaries commission lays out the challenge: before new boundaries were drawn, the constituency of Lesser Slave Lake had a population of 28,858, while Calgary-South East had 92,148 people. It meant that a vote in Lesser Slave Lake had about 3.5 times more impact than a vote in Calgary-South East, because the rural constituency had far fewer voters but the same number of representatives in the legislature. Rural leaders, meanwhile, contend that representing vast, sparsely populated areas pose challenges that go beyond simple head counts. Calgary mayor says growth must be reflected Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek says her city's explosive population growth must be reflected in the province's electoral map. "Calgary is the fastest-growing city in the country, welcoming over 250 new residents every day. As the province undertakes its review of electoral boundaries, it is essential that this growth is reflected in the representation Calgarians receive in the legislature," she wrote in a statement. Gondek said growing urban centres like Calgary face increasingly complex challenges, from housing to infrastructure to public safety. "I urge the electoral boundaries commission to engage directly with municipalities like Calgary — we have the best understanding of where growth is happening and what our communities need," she wrote. "Ensuring fair representation isn't just about lines on a map. It's about preserving the integrity of our democracy and delivering results for the people we serve." Rural leader says it's more than a numbers game Bob Marshall, reeve for the County of Grande Prairie, said relying solely on population figures to draw boundaries misses the reality of representation in large rural constituencies. "Some people have to travel five hours just to see their MLA in the rural areas, especially in the north," Marshall said in an interview. "In the city, you can walk 10 minutes to your MLA's office. So there's that disparity." He added rural MLAs often deal with many community groups. "In ours, for our MLA … you're probably looking at 40 municipal councillors, and then the mayor and the reeve within those municipalities as well," he said. "So you're dealing with a lot more different dynamics." He argued that rural Alberta constituencies contribute significantly to Alberta's wealth through industry, and deserve appropriate representation. Commission must grapple with tensions Lisa Young, a political science professor at the University of Calgary, says there is a central tension involved here that plays out at both the provincial and the federal level. "The basic principle for creating electoral districts is the idea of representation by population," she said. "But Canada is a tricky country for doing that because we've got lots of geography and not that many people." She noted a Supreme Court decision from 1991 authorized deviations of up to 25 per cent in population, in effect allowing for rural districts that have fewer voters and urban districts that have more. "That right there starts to matter when you've got an electorate that is divided politically when it comes to rural versus urban," she said. In November, the Alberta government announced it will add two new electoral divisions for the next election, raising the total number of seats in the legislature from 87 to 89. The province also announced changes to the way electoral boundary commissioners go about their work. Previously, the commission was required to consider municipal boundaries when drawing electoral maps. Under new rules, this requirement has been removed. Young said the United Conservative Party and the NDP likely have different views about where they'd like to see those two new districts added. "The NDP presumably would like to see districts added to Calgary and to Edmonton. And there's certainly a good case for that. That's where most of the population growth has been," Young said. "I would imagine that the UCP would prefer to see a different approach to creating new districts, and perhaps having districts that include both some urban and some rural areas together." Process designed to be neutral, but politics still a factor The commission consists of five members: a chair appointed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council, two members nominated by the government, and two by the opposition. Keith Archer, who served on a previous Alberta commission and was chief electoral officer in B.C., said the structure aims to balance partisanship, but is still influenced by political realities. "It's not a non-partisan commission as much as … maybe closer to a bipartisan commission," he said. "The government still has the final say on what is accepted and what is passed by the Legislative Assembly." Historically, governments have mostly accepted the main report, Archer noted. Under Alberta's Electoral Boundaries Commission Act, most ridings must have populations no more than 25 per cent above or below the average size. The province also has an exception that allows up to four electoral districts to have up to 50 per cent below the provincial average, should they meet certain conditions. Nine constituencies in Alberta are currently more than 25 per cent above the average size: Calgary-Buffalo, Calgary-Foothills, Calgary-North East, Calgary-Shaw, Calgary-South East, Edmonton-Ellerslie, Edmonton-South, Edmonton-South West, and Airdrie-Cochrane. The political challenge at play is that redistributing seats toward cities could weaken the influence of rural areas, Archer noted. Commissions not being required to align boundaries with municipal borders could also open the door to more mixed rural-urban ridings, he added. "It'll be interesting to see whether the commission takes up that opportunity to begin carving out parts of urban constituencies and placing them in sections of constituencies that otherwise look like rural constituencies," he said. Laurie Livingstone, a Calgary-based lawyer and a member of the 2017 commission, said the last commission heard hundreds of submissions from across the province. She said they often used everyday questions to guide decisions — like where residents go to buy groceries or where their kids play hockey. "That helped provide us with some really good building blocks of which direction to go," she said. She added public input is essential to the process. "The commission is out there trying to make the best decisions they can with the forced requirement that they're going to have to put lines in places," she said. "So the more help that you can give the commission, the better job they're going to do."
