Cinco de Mayo- Public Testimony on Redistricting Proposals

May 5, 2011

Dear Members of the Senate and Assembly Committee on Legislative Operations and Elections:

My name is Artie Blanco, I am representing Mi Familia Vota. We are a non-partisan, non-profit organization , our mission is to build Latino Political Power through Citizenship, Voter Registration, Voter Education, Voter Participation and Civic Engagement post election day.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee for holding this hearing and allowing for public testimony.

This is my second testimony given to the joint committee.  In my previous testimony I highlighted three issues:

1. Many areas in Las Vegas form a community of interest for Hispanics. Particularly in and around the East Las Vegas area that should not be split during the redistricting process. Primary boundaries of this community consist of Interstate 15, Nellis, Cheyenne and Desert Inn.

2. We support and encourage the legislative leadership to provide as many opportunities as possible where Latinos can influence the electoral outcome by choosing a representative of their choice.

3. We support and encourage the leadership, to the extent possible, to protect the Latinos who were elected in 2010 to the Nevada State Legislature.

Last week the Republican legislative Caucus released their proposed redistricting maps for state Assembly, Senate and Congressional Districts.

Under brief analysis we found that the proposal disregarded public testimony given by Hispanic leaders identifying communities of interest not to crack. It weakens all districts currently represented by Hispanic elected officials and the renumbering of districts is disenfranchisement by causing confusion among all voters.

Also, last week the Democratic Legislative leadership released their proposed redistricting maps for state Assembly and Senate.

After analyzing the maps we found that the proposal keeps key pockets of Latino communities of interest together and the ability to elect a candidate of our choice. District numbers were kept intact so not to confuse voters and protected our current Latino legislative members.

Today a second congressional proposal was released.

When we compare the two congressional proposals it’s clear that one proposal (the Democratic proposal) listened to the input of the Hispanic Community by keeping current communities of interest together. 

While the other proposal (the Republican Proposal) packs all minorities into one district which reduces Hispanic influence in the remaining districts and limits the ability to be equally represented.

Again, it is our position that in order to enhance the political voice of the Hispanic community we must ensure that we do not confuse or limit the ability to influence and elect a candidate of our choice.  We deserve more than just a ‘fair’ map. We deserve a map that speaks to our community’s growing political influence throughout the State of Nevada.

Artie Blanco

State Director

Mi Familia Vota

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

702-920-5923

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