STATEMENT FROM THE FAIR DISTRICTS NEW JERSEY COALITION ON REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC PUBLIC RELEASE OF LEGISLATIVE MAPS

TRENTON, NJ ⸺ Today the Fair Districts New Jersey Coalition released the following statement in response to Republican and Democratic delegations’ public release of their proposed legislative maps. 

“As a coalition of organizations dedicated to ensuring district lines acknowledge and celebrate communities of color, we have been diligently advocating for transparency, accuracy, and racial equity in the map-making process. While we are pleased that the commission heard our collective call for transparency in this process, both the ‘Turnpike’ and ‘Parkway’ maps ultimately fail to reflect the rapid population growth driven solely by increases in the numbers of people of color and address larger concerns of racial inequity.

We applaud the Apportionment Commission’s decision to release draft map proposals to the public prior to certification for the first time in New Jersey’s history. As the deadline to certify a legislative map quickly approaches, we strongly urge the Commission to schedule additional opportunities for public comment and feedback to reshape current maps to reflect the state’s growing diverse population.

This historic decision should allow the public to be active participants in drawing district lines that will directly affect their lives for the next ten years. However,  Fair Districts has real concerns that public testimony on communities of interest and the explosive growth of people of color in the state is not reflected in the ‘Turnpike’ or ‘Parkway’ maps. According to the latest  Census, people of color are now over 48% of the state’s population – and account for all the population growth in New Jersey in the last decade. However, both proposed maps only draw 17 majority people of color districts, significantly less than their population would suggest, and leave out major communities of interest for Asian American and Pacific Islanders and Middle East and North African populations.

Both proposed maps from the Commission fail to reflect the growth of Asian, Latino, and Black communities and miss Middle Eastern and North African populations entirely. Although Latinos make up over 20% of the state’s population, The ‘Turnpike’ and ‘Parkway’ maps only propose two majority Latino districts, respectively. Both maps also fail to reflect the growth in the Black population, only drawing one majority Black district each.

Both maps drastically underrepresent the Asian community, even though they are the fastest-growing demographic in the state, now making up one in ten New Jerseyans, and have the worst population-to-representation disparities in the legislature. The ‘Turnpike’ map does not include a single Asian plurality district, while the ‘Parkway’ map only includes one, and does so at the expense of dividing communities of interest in Central Jersey. The Asian American community grew by 44% over the past decade and saw almost 60% growth in parts of Central and Northern New Jersey. Similarly, Middle Eastern and North African communities in Northern New Jersey are split amongst multiple districts.

Our proposed ‘Unity Map’ demonstrates how to draw 20 majority people of color districts, demonstrating that populations that make up half the state can be represented in half of the legislature’s districts. Though our collective advocacy resulted in an unprecedented opportunity for public participation in our map-making process, the versions of the commission’s maps released thus far show that New Jersey will still be stuck in the past when it comes to fairly representing people of color. We call on the Commission to actively work to incorporate feedback from Communities of Interest into their proposals and deliver maps that center on our diverse population.

The Commission has until March 1st to officially certify a map, allowing ample time for additional hearings now that two versions have been released. We encourage the public to offer feedback on the current proposals, including on our Unity Map or the over 50 Communities of Interest that we submitted to the Commission. It is crucial that your voices are heard and interests are taken into consideration before certifying a map. The public can also compare all maps including our ‘Unity Map’ here. ”

Signatories:

League of Women Voters of New Jersey

New Jersey Institute for Social Justice

Fair Share Housing Center

New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice

Faith in New Jersey

Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund

Latinas United for Political Empowerment (LUPE) Fund

Waterspirit

NJ Appleseed Public Interest Law Center

Clean Water Action

National Association of Social Workers – NJ

Bend the Arc Jewish Action – South Jersey

Palestinian American Community Center

NJ Redistricting Cohort of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc

NAACP New Jersey State Conference