Bay State voters can expect a greater representation of minorities throughout the state after the Massachusetts House and Senate passed districting changes with near unanimous support on Tuesday.
Legislators have said that the redistricting maps, which include a record number of districts where a minority holds the majority, are a step forward in equal representation in the Commonwealth.
“This process produced a plan that doubles the amount of majority-minority seats in the House of Representatives,” said Rep. Michael Moran, of Brighton, chair of the Special Joint Committee on Redistricting. “Never in the history of the Commonwealth have minorities been so empowered to elect the candidates of their choice.”
The Senate passed the maps with a unanimous vote, while the House had three members vote against them and one member abstain his vote.
Senate chair of the Special Joint Committee on Redistricting Stanley Rosenberg, of Amherst, said that the redistricting process was groundbreaking for hearing the public’s opinion.
“We had 13 hearings, as opposed to five 10 years ago, we set up an interactive website and more than 10,000 individuals availed themselves of that website,” Rosenberg said. “We also created a 14-day public comment period.”
The number of House districts with a minority holding the majority was raised to 20 from 10, and the number of Senate minority-majority districts was raised to three from two.
One new district will be an incumbent-free minority-majority district in Lawrence and four districts will have Latino majorities.
Many of the advocacy groups that participated in the redistricting process said they were pleased with the new maps, including the Massachusetts chapter of Common Cause.
“The committee worked very hard to get a lot of public input, setting up a website, including advocates in their planning, and then ultimately producing maps that increased the number of majority-minority districts,” said Pam Wilmot, executive director of Massachusetts Common Cause.
She said it was an accomplishment, considering the history of under-representing minorities and losing lawsuits.
“This process has been a process that really went a long way to increase the confidence communities of color have in this body, this legislature and this building,” said Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, of Boston.
The Special Joint Committee on Redistricting has not released new maps for the U.S. House of Representatives.
Massachusetts will lose one U.S. Representative because of slow population growth in the Commonwealth and the Committee will have to draw nine districts where there once were 10.
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