Glossary
Census
Census Block
Census Block Group
Census Data
Census Designated Place
Census Tract
Citizen Voting Age Population (CVAP)
Coalition District
Community of Interest (COI)
Compactness
Contiguity
County Election Precincts
Geographic units of area established for the purpose of election administration. The voters in an election precinct usually vote at a single polling place, so the votes cast in the precinct may be counted separately from other precincts. See Precincts.
Cracking or Fracturing
A form of voter dilution occurring when districts are drawn so as to divide a geographically compact group of people with shared characteristics so that they fall short of a majority in any district. For example, dividing a minority community into two or more districts. If the minority community is politically cohesive and could elect a preferred candidate if placed in one district, but the minority population is divided into two or more districts where it no longer has electoral control or influence, the voting strength of the minority population is diluted. See Packing.
Crossover District
One in which minority voters do not form a majority, but still reliably control the outcome of the election with some non-minority voters crossing over to vote with the minority group.
Decennial Census
The counting of every person residing in the United States. The decennial census count occurs every ten years and is mandated by the United States Constitution. Decennial census data is used to redraw the lines of voting maps. The decennial census is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. See Census.
Demographer
An expert in statistical analysis related to human populations. Demographers are used in the Redistricting process to analyze Decennial Census data and create the proposed maps.
Deviation and Deviation Range
The amount by which a district’s population differs from the ideal population. The deviation is the amount of population that is less than or greater than the ideal population of a district. In redistricting, a slight deviation may be permissible if based on rational state policies. The redistricting plan’s Deviation Range is the plan’s largest deviation to the plan’s smallest deviation.
Dilution or Vote Dilution
Occurs when the voting strength of a politically cohesive minority group is weakened or watered down by an election system, redistricting plan, or other electoral process or procedure. For example, the creation of districts that either: 1) divide cohesive members of a racial or ethnic minority group among several districts, artificially reducing the group’s opportunity to influence elections (see Cracking or Fracturing) or 2) place extraordinarily high percentages of members of a racial or ethnic minority group in one or more districts, so that minority voting strength is artificially limited to those districts and is minimized in neighboring districts. See Packing.
Equal Protection Clause
See Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
The U.S. Constitution provision that includes the Equal Protection Clause, which prohibits a state from denying persons equal protection of the law. The Equal Protection Clause is the primary source of the one-person, one-vote principle.
Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
The U.S. Constitution provision providing that the right to vote may not be denied or abridged on account of race or color.
Fragmentation
The division of a geographically concentrated cohesive group, such as a racial or political group, among different districts for the purpose of minimizing the group’s voting strength.
Fracturing
See Cracking or Fracturing.
Geographic Information System (GIS)
A graphics-based computer system that relates geographic features (such as census tracts, roads, or county boundaries) to data about those features (such as population or race).
Gerrymander
A district or set of districts typically characterized by unusual boundaries, which is drawn to favor one or more individual interest groups over others or to increase the likelihood of a particular political result. Racial gerrymandering is prohibited under federal law and partisan gerrymandering is prohibited under California law.
Homogenous Precinct/Homogenous District
A precinct or district that is nearly all of one race, usually more than 80 percent of one racial group.
Ideal Population
The number of persons to be placed in each district to obtain generally equal population in all districts. The ideal population for each district is obtained by taking the total population of the state, county or jurisdiction and dividing it by the number of districts to be redistricted in the state, county or jurisdiction.
Influence District
Where a minority group constitutes a less than controlling voting group in a district but nevertheless constitutes such a sizeable minority in the district so that it can influence the outcome of an election.
Majority – Minority District
A district where a minority group usually constitutes the majority of voters and can control the outcome of elections in the district.
Method of Equal Proportions
The mathematical formula used, as provided by Federal statute, to reapportion congressional seats among the states after each Decennial Census.
Minority-Coalition District
One in which two or more minority groups combine to form a majority in a district.
One Person, One Vote
The principle that each person’s vote should count equally with every other person’s vote, which is affected by the allocation of the same or substantially the same population to each district of a particular type, such as a congressional district. The courts derive the one-person, one-vote standard primarily from the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Fourteenth Amendment also includes the concept that each person in a district (including those not eligible to vote) is entitled to representational equality, that is, to have the same access to the elected representative as each person in every other district.
Packing
Drawing district lines in a way that puts as many people with shared characteristics into as few districts as possible. Creating a district with a very high concentration of a particular group of voters, such as a racial or political group, tends to result in the election of the group’s candidate of choice in any election in that district by an overwhelming majority but achieves less overall success by the dilution of the group’s voting strength in a larger number of neighboring districts.
P.L. (Public Law) 94-171
The Federal statute that requires the U.S. Census Bureau to provide, by April 1 of each year following a Decennial Census, the population and race data necessary for redistricting. Because of COVID-19 in 2020, the time period for conducting the Decennial Census was extended by Congress to October 15, 2020, resulting in a later delivery date of the final 2020 census data to states.
Political Subdivision
A division of a state; in California, counties.
Population Estimates
An approximation of the population of a geographic unit at a point in the past or present for which an actual population count is not available.
Population Projections
An approximation of the population of a geographic unit at a point in the future, based on specific assumptions regarding future demographic trends in the geographic unit.
Precinct
A geographical area created by election officials to group voters in a designated polling place so that an election can be conducted.
Racially-Polarized Voting
The term used to describe circumstances in which the voting preferences of a racial or ethnic group consistently vary from those of other racial or ethnic groups, particularly when the different voting preferences are based on the race of the candidate; also referred to as “racial bloc voting.”
Reapportionment
The redistribution of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives based on changes in a state’s population. This occurs so that a state’s representation in the House of Representatives is proportional to its population. Reapportionment is not redistricting, although some states use the terms interchangeably.
Redistricting
The process of redrawing district maps used by political jurisdictions to elect public officials. It applies to all levels of government where district elections are held.
State-adjusted data
Decennial Census data that has been merged with California state election data and adjusted to count persons incarcerated in state prisons in their home communities instead of the communities where correctional facilities where they are detained are located.
Statistical Sampling
The statistical method by which characteristics of a small group are measured and applied to the population as-a-whole.
Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing System (TIGER)
The cartographic map database, prepared by the U.S. Census Bureau, which contains the geographic base units (Census Tracts) that will be used for redistricting.
Total Range of Deviation
The range over which the populations of all districts in a redistricting plan deviate from the ideal, target, or average district population.
Traditional Districting Principles
Factors traditionally used by a state or local jurisdiction to perform redistricting. Examples of traditional redistricting principles may include compactness, contiguity, respect for political subdivisions, and respect for communities of interest.
Undercount
The error in U.S. Census Bureau data that results from the failure to count some persons or housing units in the Decennial Census. Historically, certain groups, such as members of racial or ethnic minorities, have been disproportionately undercounted by the U.S. Census Bureau.
U.S. Census Bureau
A federal government entity in charge of collecting data about people and the economy. For example, the U.S. Census Bureau counts every resident of the United States during the Decennial Census and collects survey data about the country’s population, housing, and workforce via the American Community Survey.
Voting Age Population
The number of persons in a geographic unit who are at least 18 years of age. Because some population groups, such as racial or ethnic minorities, tend to be younger on average than the population as a whole, the voting age populations are frequently compared in evaluating the potential voting strength of those groups.
Voting Age Citizen Population
The number of persons in a geographic unit who are age 18 plus and who, as citizens, are eligible to vote.
Voting Rights Act
The Federal statute prohibiting discrimination in voting practices on the basis of race or language group, codified as 42 U.S.C. Section 1973 et seq. The official title of the Act is the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Act was amended in 1982. Section 2, and in some cases Section 5, of the Act are important for redistricting.
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