The primary purpose of the U.S. Census every 10 years is to count the number of people whose primary residence is within the various political boundaries.

From the U.S. Congress to city councils, the census numbers help lawmakers redraw boundaries to get a more fair, equitable distribution of people in each district. School districts, townships, cities, counties and states need to adjust their lines to reduce the population disparity from the last time the lines were redrawn.

With our growth in population to 5,303,925, Minnesota maintained eight congressional seats. Each of the eight districts must have 662,991 people. Each of the 67 State Senate districts will represent about 79,163 people and each of the 134 House of Representatives districts approximately 39,582.

Every 10 years the Minnesota House of Representatives re-establishes a committee to redraw congressional and state legislative districts. The Legislature passes a bill with the redrawn districts, then presents it to the governor. If they cannot agree, the courts draw a new map. The court-drawn map then has the force of law for the next decade. The date for court intervention this decade is February 21, 2012.

The history of redistricting has been fraught with partisan politics. Legislators in the majority may have an incentive to draw and vote for a redistricting map that benefits their incumbents and prioritizes partisan gain.

This year, the DFL is the minority both houses of the Legislature. There are five minority members on the House redistricting committee, representing different parts of the state (northwest, northeast, south, suburban and metro) while also representing rural, agricultural, regional centers and large cities. As a member of the minority on this committee, we approached our redistricting responsibility with the expectation a new map would be developed with input from both parties and the public, in a transparent and fair process.

At the outset, there was no doubt the redistricting process would be political. Observers have not been disappointed. The concern, however, was always how partisan it would be. Minnesotans should expect something as important as their electoral districts to have strong input from both parties. Gov. Dayton has said that any redistricting plan that passes the Legislature must have strong bipartisan support before he will sign the bill.

Developing a map

The redistricting committee met in Rochester, Marshall and Hermantown to allow Minnesotans to testify on their redistricting priorities. The committee held 12 meetings in St. Paul and took testimony from advocates of good government, the state chamber of commerce and local government officials, as well as input from nonpartisan legislative staff about the process.

Within these meetings only four hours included testimony and public input from everyday Minnesotans before the majority party released its map the evening of Monday, May 2. Then, only 24 hours later, the redistricting committee met to vote on the just-released map. By allowing only the minimum time for comment and debate, the public and local government officials (including elections officials) were not able to ask the questions or highlight the problems of the newly drawn maps.

Input from regular Minnesotans was valuable for committee members to hear before the map drawn by the majority party was released. But once the map was made public, it would have been reasonable to expect additional time for review and comment.

Legislators have an amazing opportunity this year to accomplish what two generations have been unable to do – develop a map that can be signed by the governor. Members of the House minority remain committed to a transparent, honest and fair redistricting map. Developing a bipartisan map with the majority party to make sure all Minnesotans are fairly represented at the state and federal level is a goal we can all share.

If you would like to be on my email update list, send your email address to rep.jeanne.poppe@house.mn. I also hope you will continue to contact me with your questions or suggestions regarding our state budget. I can be reached by email, or at 1-888-682-3180 or 1-651-296-4193.