Abstract

A Spatial Look at Redistricting
Track: Census and Statistical Data
Authors: Marcus Brown

Municipal representative boundaries exert durable and profound effects upon people's lives. These boundaries and their consequences receive less attention than federal boundaries yet powerfully influence minority representation. We investigated the changes in demographic composition of local representative districts within the city of San Antonio, Texas since passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA). By comparing U.S. Census data with reconstructed election information we are able to illustrate a method for evaluating compliance with the VRA using a geospatial framework. City council representative districts were interpreted from multiple reference sources and combined with population and social data relevant to the VRA. Overlay and summary statistics indicate consistently greater minority representation over the period in question. Highlights include analysis of extant federal regulations, discussion of how public law and legal rulings informed the analysis process, and identification of complications encountered during the analysis.