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Minnesota Redistricting System
February 2001
I. History
The State of Minnesota has had a computerized geographic information
system since 1967. It was originally developed and maintained by the University
of Minnesota under the name Minnesota Land Management Information System (MLMIS).
It was not used to support redistricting in 1972. Rather, the University's
Minnesota Analysis and Planning System (MAPS), which used a computer only
to tabulate the census population data, provided technical support to the
Legislature and a three-judge federal court.
In 1978, primary responsibility for the State's geographic information
system was transferred from the University of Minnesota's MLMIS to a new Land
Management Information Center (LMIC) in the State Planning Agency.
The 1982 redistricting was done on LMIC's PRIME 550 mainframe computer
using redistricting software developed by Abt Associates, Inc. under contract
with the Legislative Coordinating Commission's Subcommittee on Redistricting.
Earl Nordstrand, as head of LMIC, supervised the creation and operation of
the redistricting system. His supervisor was Al Robinette.
After the 1982 redistricting, the State Planning Agency was reorganized.
The functions under Mr. Robinette's supervision were renamed the Planning
Information Center (PIC), which included both the Land Management Information
Center and the State Demographer. In 1983 the PIC purchased a copy of ARC/INFO
(the second site in the country) and used it to operate the Land Management
Information System on a PRIME 9955II mainframe.
For the 1990s round of redistricting, Mr. Robinette recommended
that the Subcommittee on Redistricting purchase its own dedicated geographic
information system using Unix workstations, rather than using the PIC mainframe.
ESRI, Inc., the developer of ARC/INFO, hired Earl Nordstrand to tailor ARC/INFO
for use in redistricting.
The Subcommittee contracted with ESRI, Inc. to customize ARC/INFO's
core redistricting application for use in Minnesota. The application was run
on SUN MicroSystems graphics workstations using the Unix operating system.
Each caucus had its own SUN workstation and a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet IIP
printer for printing reports. Large-format maps were plotted on a Precision
Image plotter maintained by Charles McCarty, the System Administrator. The
system was used by all four caucuses as well as by the three-judge panels
in state and federal court to draw legislative and congressional plans. It
was also used by the Legislature to draw Metropolitan Council districts in
1993.
In 1992, the Subcommittee on Redistricting was renamed the Subcommittee
on Geographic Information Systems. It maintained and upgraded the hardware
and software used for the system, continuing to rely on SUN as the primary
hardware vendor and ESRI as the primary software vendor.
For redistricting after the 2000 census, the system will move from
a Unix operating system run on SUN workstations to a Windows 2000 operating
system run on Dell personal computers. ESRI's ARC/INFO, ArcView, and Map Objects
will continue to be the primary software for day-to-day GIS operations and
may be used to print maps and post plans to the World Wide Web, but the redistricting
will be done using Maptitude for Redistricting from Caliper Corporation.
The redistricting hardware and software will change, but the functionality
of the system used to draw plans will remain essentially the same.
II. System Description
A. Work Sites
1. Office Space
The computerized redistricting system consists of four caucus work sites
and two work sites for the nonpartisan director and assistant director of
GIS. The GIS Director's workstation functions as the file server for the
redistricting network.
2. Workstations and Peripherals
Each work site is equipped with the highest performance personal computer
currently available. Each PC has dual Pentium III central processors with
speeds of at least 1GHz and 1 GB of RAM. It has a 3.5 inch floppy drive, a
DVD drive, a rewritable CD-RW drive, and a DLT tape drive. It has a T1 connection
to the Internet. It has a 21" high resolution monitor. Each work site includes
a video projector and screen to facilitate small-group participation in drawing
plans.
3. File and Map Storage
Each work site has at least 36 gigabytes of hard disk storage capacity. This
will be sufficient to store a complete copy of the geographic, population,
and election database and all the plans created there. Each work site has
a map rack and storage cabinet.
4. Output Devices
a. Plotters
Each work site has a Hewlett Packard DesignJet 5000 plotter that can plot
maps up to 42 inches wide and of any length, either in color or in black and
white.
b. Printers
Each work site has an Epson Stylus Color 1520 ink jet printer to print size
"A" (8-1/2" x 11") to "C" (17" x 22") maps and a Hewlett-Packard 8150DN laser
printer for high-speed printing of reports.
5. Copies of Maps
Both the "A"-size and 42" plotters can print multiple copies of maps, but
will take awhile. The GIS Director will keep abreast of developments in color
copier technology, so that a copier may be used if it becomes feasible.
6. Backup
The system provides a DLT tape drive for each workstation and for the system
as a whole, with copies put into vault storage at a remote location.
7. Uninterruptible
Power Supply
Each workstation has an uninterruptible power supply to permit it to be shut
down in an orderly manner in the event of a power failure.
B. Network
1. Hardware
The six work sites are connected to each other through an Ethernet network.
2. Uses
The network will be used to copy the common database onto each caucus's hard
disk, to transmit plans to the central Web server, and to exchange plans
among the caucus work sites. The network system includes electronic mail.
3. Security
Network security will not allow a user electronic access to the plans, maps,
or reports created by any other user, except as authorized by the user who
created the plan on which the maps and reports are based. The GIS Director
has electronic access to all data, plans, maps, and reports, but is not expected
to use it except as necessary to keep the system running properly.
C.
Database
1. Common Database
The elements of the redistricting database, other than any confidential data
added by each caucus, will be maintained by the GIS Director as a common
database. The common database will be made available to the four caucuses
by periodically copying the entire common database onto each caucus work
site's hard disk. Each caucus has agreed to update its copy of the common
database whenever the GIS Director makes additions, corrections, or deletions.
These updates must be accepted and used by each caucus, at least until some
point toward the end of the process, when the Subcommittee will authorize
each caucus to cease accepting updates.
2. Database Elements
a. Minnesota's Census Geography
The State of Minnesota has 87 counties and about 855 cities, 1,743 towns,
4,100 precincts, and 200,000 census blocks. Some counties also include unorganized
territory, that is, geographic areas not organized into a town or city and
instead governed directly by the county board.
Minnesota
has completed both Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Census Bureau's 2000 Census
Redistricting Data Program, so both its blocks (Phase 1) and precincts (Phase
2) should be properly delineated on the file for use in redistricting. Some
of the precincts are not "true" precincts. "True" precincts have boundaries
that follow "visible, clearly recognizable physical features," as required
by Minn. Stat. §
204B.14
, subd. 6. They are shown on census maps exactly as they are used by the political
subdivision. The "untrue" precincts do not comply with the law and have had
to be adjusted for purposes of the census to follow the visible physical
features that appear on the census maps. The boundaries actually used for
election purposes in the "untrue" precincts can not be shown on the census
maps or used for tabulating census data.
b. Minnesota's Redistricting Geography
Minnesota has eight congressional districts, 67 senate districts, and 134
house districts. The congressional districts bear no special relationship
to the legislative districts, but the house districts must be nested within
the senate districts, two each.
c. TIGER/Line File
(1) File Size
The Census Bureau's 2000 TIGER/Line file for the State of Minnesota, available
in February 2001, contains about 470 megabytes, which requires one CD-ROM
disk.
(2) Availability
The GIS Office and the State Demographer's Office have each received one
copy of the 2000 TIGER/Line file free of charge. The file is available to
the public for free download from the Bureau's FTP site:
http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/rd_2ktiger/tgr2kweb.html.
The Census Bureau is expected to charge members of the public about $60 for
a CD-ROM including the entire state.
(3) County, Town, City Boundaries
The 2000 TIGER/Line file contains county, town, and city boundaries as of
January 1, 2000. There are 11 cities that do not appear in TIGER. They are
cities that historically have depended on their surrounding township for
election administration and for that reason have not been separately tracked
by the Census Bureau. The GIS Office has assigned each of these cities an
unofficial FIPS (federal information processing standard) code and added
it to Minnesota's redistricting geography, called "LCC 2000." The cities
are: Beardsley, Johnson, and Ortonville in Big Stone County; Calumet, Grand
Rapids, La Prairie, Marble, Nashwauk, and Taconite in Itasca County; and
Aurora and Kinney in St. Louis County.
Some counties include unorganized territories that have served as election
precincts but were not reported to the Census Bureau in time to be included
in TIGER. The GIS Office has added them to the LCC 2000 file. They are: Peatland
in Kittson County and America/Beltrami Island, Clear River/Oaks, and Jadis
in Roseau County. Lake Superior has historically been included as an appendage
to one of the towns in St. Louis, Lake, and Cook counties. The GIS Office
has made it a separate unorganized territory in each of these counties.
(4) Precinct Boundaries
Each time a city changes a precinct boundary, it must report the change and
provide a map showing the new boundaries to the Secretary of State and the
State Demographer. Since 1992, the Secretary of State has been processing
those changes as they come in and incorporating them into the database kept
by the GIS Office. The GIS Office has kept a file showing the precinct boundaries
that were in effect for the general election in each of the years 1992, 1994,
1996, 1998, and 2000.
For Phase 2 of the Census, which involved the states providing to the Census
Bureau their precinct boundaries, the GIS Office provided all the precinct
changes processed by the Secretary of State through the fall of 1999. Those
precinct boundaries are what are shown in the 2000 TIGER/Line file.
Precinct boundaries in Minnesota were "frozen" as of January 1, 2000, so
the precinct boundaries shown in TIGER are close to those actually used in
the 2000 election. However, an existing precinct may be divided and some
precinct boundaries "float" with the city boundary when territory is annexed.
Where a city has changed its precinct boundaries after those processed by
the Secretary of State in the fall of 1999, or as a result of annexations
between January 1 and November 7, 2000, the boundaries shown in TIGER don't
tie to the precincts used in the 2000 election.
After the election, the Secretary of State and the GIS Office created a new
file that shows the precinct boundaries actually used within each city. The
LCC 2000 boundaries do not reflect any annexations after January 1, 2000,
but they do recognize that St. Augusta Township in Stearns County has become
the City of St. Augusta, and that Forest Lake Township in Washington County
has become a part of the City of Forest Lake.
Some of the precincts used in the 2000 election consist of a city that crosses
a county boundary or a combination of cities, townships and unorganized territories
that share a combined polling place. Minn. Stat. § 204B.14, subd. 2,
permits the use of a combined polling place but requires each town and each
statutory city to constitute at least one election precinct with a separate
ballot box at the combined polling place.
The redistricting software requires that the geographic units used to build
plans be nested into a clean hierarchy. It will not tolerate precincts that
span more than one county, city, town, or unorganized territory. The GIS
Office has assigned a separate precinct number to each of the Minor Civil
Divisions (cities, towns, and unorganized territories) that make up these
"multiple-MCD" precincts.
A list of all the new LCC 2000 precincts added to TIGER 2000 is shown in
appendix A
. A list of all the new LCC 2000 precincts that did not appear in the
Secretary of State's election results for the November 7, 2000, general election
is shown in
appendix B
.
(5) Blocks
The census block was the lowest level at which population data was collected
and tabulated for the 1990 census. That will remain true for the 2000 census,
but the boundaries and names of those blocks will change. The 1990 block boundaries
were physical features, such as streets, highways, rivers, lakes, pipelines,
and power lines; and political boundaries, such as counties, cities, and
towns. During the last decade, new streets and highways have been built and
city and town boundaries have moved as a result of incorporations and annexations.
Thus, a new set of blocks was needed for the 2000 census.
Census blocks in 1990 were numbered with three digits. Where the Census Bureau
discovered, as part of collecting census counts, that blocks needed to be
split, the Bureau added an alphabetic suffix after the third digit of the
block number. For 2000, the Census Bureau has adopted a new block numbering
scheme consisting of four digits and no alphabetic suffix. Every 2000 block
will have a different number from the one it had in 1990. Furthermore, rather
than using a suffix to show which block boundaries change between the collection
phase (2000) and the tabulation phase (2001), the Bureau has decided to renumber
all the blocks. So, we did not know either the block boundaries or the block
numbers for the 2001 population counts until about a month before the counts
were to arrive. The Census Bureau will provide comparability files to show
how the 2000 blocks relate to the 1990 blocks: one to one, one to many, many
to one, or many to many.
(6) Streets and Addresses
The streets shown in the 1990 TIGER/Line file were primarily based on aerial
photographs taken in 1984-86. For the 2000 census, the Census Bureau has worked
to improve its Master Address File ("MAF") showing every housing unit and
its street address. The first step was to augment its 1990 census address
list with street addresses from the U.S. Postal Service's "delivery sequence
file," which is based on "ZIP+4" carrier routes. Where street addresses in
the Postal Service's file appeared in locations where TIGER had no streets,
the Census Bureau obtained maps of the area and added the streets. In rural
areas, where the Postal Service's file showed only a rural route and box
number, rather than a street address, the Census Bureau hired local staff
to travel the area, locate each housing unit, record its physical location,
and "spot" the location on a census map. Again, where the street was missing,
the Bureau drew it in.
After the 1990 census, local and tribal government officials had expressed
concern about the completeness of the 1990 census and their belief that they
had address information available that would make the census address list
more accurate. In 1994, Congress passed the Census Address List Improvement
Act, Pub. L. No. 103-430
, which directed the Census Bureau to provide an opportunity for local governments
to review the census address list for accuracy and completeness before it
was used to deliver the 2000 census questionnaires. The Census Bureau invited
local and tribal governments to review census maps and compare address information
they maintain to the Census Bureau's address list and to make additions,
corrections or deletions to the Census Bureau's address list and identify
missing units. This Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) program took
place in 1998 and 1999. As a result, the streets in the 1999 TIGER/Line File
should be up to date as of that time.
The Census Bureau continued to accept updates from the U.S. Postal Service,
from its own census enumerators, and from local governments showing new streets
constructed and new housing units occupied up to Census Day, April 1, 2000.
The 2000 Redistricting TIGER/Line file, available in February 2001, has streets
and addresses up to 1999. The final census address ranges, up to Census Day,
will follow in a separate release of TIGER 2000 between April and June of
2001.
d. Congressional District Boundaries
The GIS Office has added current congressional district boundaries to the
redistricting database.
The congressional district boundaries shown in TIGER 2000 contained a series
of small errors, primarily along Interstate 494 through Richfield, Fort Snelling,
Mendota Heights, and Eagan, where the boundary followed the highway instead
of the city boundaries. The GIS Office has corrected those errors, so that
the congressional boundary is coterminous with the city and precinct boundaries.
The cities of Little Falls, Rockford, and Farmington have annexed territory
in the adjacent congressional district, without creating a separate precinct
for the new territory. Thus, the congressional boundary has floated along
with the city boundary. The LCC 2000 file recognizes this float and thus
differs from TIGER 2000. The blocks affected by these changes are shown in
appendix C
.
e. Legislative District Boundaries
The GIS Office has added current legislative district boundaries to the redistricting
database.
Where a city boundary is an invisible line that has also been a legislative
district boundary during the past decade, and the city has annexed territory
so that its invisible boundary has moved, the precinct boundary for the legislative
district has moved along with it and the old boundary is not included in
TIGER 2000. This has occurred in the cities of Annandale, Baxter, Brainerd,
Buffalo, Dillworth, Farmington, Fergus Falls, Granite Falls, Hastings, Hutchinson,
Jordan, Lake Crystal, Lake Elmo, Le Sueur, Mankato, Melrose, Moorhead, Mountain
Iron, New Prague, New Ulm, Northfield, Pierz, Pillager, Pine City, Red Wing,
Rochester, Saint James, Sartell, Sauk Rapids, Tower, Wadena, Wanamingo, and
Winona.
f. Pub. L. 94-171 Population Data
(1) Delivery
The Pub. L. 94-171 population data will contain about 90 megabytes. It will
be delivered by the Census Bureau to the GIS Office by CD-ROM sometime before
the legal deadline of April 1, 2001. Almost immediately, the file will also
be available to the public for free download from the Census Bureau's FTP
site and on CD-ROM for about $60.
(2) Two Population Counts
For the 2000 census, there has been a fight between the President and Congress
over whether to use scientific sampling techniques to conduct the census.
The Census Bureau proposed that, in order to obtain information on at least
90 percent of the households in each census tract, it would use statistical
sampling techniques to estimate the characteristics of the households that
did not respond to the first two mailings of a census questionnaire. In each
census tract, the fewer households that responded initially, the larger would
be the size of the sample enumerators would contact directly as part of their
follow-up. The addresses that would be included in the sample would be scientifically
chosen at random to insure they were statistically representative of all
nonresponding housing units in that census tract. The total population for
each census block would be extrapolated from the head count to an adjusted
count based on the sample.
Congress attempted to stop the use of sampling by enacting
Pub. L. No. 105-119
, § 209 (j), 111 Stat. 2480 (1997), which required that all data releases
for the 2000 census show "the number of persons enumerated without using
statistical methods." It also authorized lawsuits to determine whether the
Bureau's plan to use sampling for apportioning seats in Congress was constitutional.
In Department of Commerce v. U.S. House of Representatives,
525 U.S. 316
(1999), the Supreme Court ruled that the Census Act prohibits the use of
sampling for purposes of apportioning representatives in Congress among the
states. It did not rule on the constitutionality of using sampling to determine
the distribution of population within each state for purposes of redistricting
its apportionment of congressional seats or the seats in its state legislature.
Following the Supreme Court's decision, the Census Bureau announced its plan
to use statistical sampling methods to conduct a postenumeration survey called
the "Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation." As of February 1, 2001, the Bureau
was planning to publish the census counts derived from sampling along with
the head counts mandated by
Pub. L. No. 105-119
. In other words, each state would receive two sets of census counts for
each area within the state and would have to make its own decision which
count to use for each area. Minnesota's redistricting database is designed
to accommodate both sets of data.
(3) Racial Data
Both sets of data will include information on race and Spanish heritage. The
five main race categories are American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black
or African American, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and White. In accordance
with OMB Bulletin
No. 00-02
(Mar. 9, 2000), the redistricting database will tabulate individuals who
reported more than one race using the following combinations: American Indian
or Alaska Native and White, Asian and White, Black or African American and
White, American Indian or Alaska Native and Black or African American, any
other combination of races that totals more than one percent of the population,
and the balance of individuals reporting more than one race.
To provide further guidance to states and local governments that must submit
their redistricting plans for preclearance before they may take effect, the
U.S. Department of Justice on January 18, 2001, issued a notice called "Guidance
Concerning Redistricting and Retrogression Under Section 5 of the Voting
Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. 1973c."
66 Fed. Reg. 5412
. The guidance says that, in most of the usual cases, the Department will
analyze only eight categories of race data:
Hispanic
Non-Hispanic White
Non-Hispanic Black plus Non-Hispanic Black and White
Non-Hispanic Asian plus Non-Hispanic Asian and White
Non-Hispanic American Indian plus Non-Hispanic American Indian and White
Non-Hispanic Pacific Islander plus Non-Hispanic Pacific Islander and White
Non-Hispanic Some other race
Non-Hispanic Other multiple-race (where more than one minority race is listed)
The total of these racial groups will add to 100 percent. Where there is
an unusual number of people checking multiple race categories, some additional
categories may be needed. There may be circumstances in which the total population
by race is important, but most redistricting decisions that consider race
will be based on the voting age population, that is, persons age 18 and over.
The Subcommittee's redistricting system will include all 504 categories of
racial and Spanish heritage data, actual and adjusted. A user will be able
to select the combinations of data desired and to display that data on a
map using numbers, thematic shading, or pie charts. The user will also be
able to generate reports showing population counts by race for any of the
categories or combinations of categories, such as those required by the Justice
Department.
g. Election Data
The election database includes statewide, congressional, and legislative
races for the 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998, and 2000 elections. For each of those
races, it shows the votes for the DFL candidate, the Republican candidate,
other major party candidates, and the total votes for "other" candidates.
It also shows the number of persons voting at each of those five elections.
Election data for the years 1992 through 2000 is kept at the precinct level.
Once the block-level population counts are added to the database in April
of 2001, the election data for each precinct for each year will be allocated
to the blocks that were in that precinct during that election year in proportion
to the voting age population in those blocks. The voting age population for
each year will be interpolated between the actual count for 1990 and the
actual count for 2000, so that the count for 1994 will be 40 percent of the
difference between 1990 and 2000, the count for 1996 will be 60 percent of
the difference, and the count for 1998 will be 80 percent of the difference.
h. Income and Housing Data
Sometime in the fall or winter of 2002, the Census Bureau will deliver to
the states income and housing data from the 2000 census. These data will
be taken from both the short form filled out by every household and the long
form filled out by one household in six. They will include data about the
income and housing of each census tract, but not at the block level. Since
these data will not arrive in time to be used for redistricting, the redistricting
database will include only income and housing data from the 1990 census.
Because the data is so old, and was gathered only at the tract level, it
will not be allocated to blocks. It will be possible to overlay this data
on a map showing current block and district boundaries, but not to calculate
income or housing indices for new districts as they are being drawn.
i. Incumbent's Residences
The residence of each incumbent was added to the redistricting database following
the 2000 election. This will permit the redistricting software to warn the
user when incumbents have been paired in creating a district and to compare
the impact of different redistricting plans on each incumbent by comparing
the districts to which the incumbent has been assigned in the different plans.
j. Other Data
Maptitude for Redistricting will allow users to add other data about census
units to the database. When users wish to use other data, these data files
can be joined by a common field, such as a unique precinct number or census
block number. To join data, a user will select the file to be joined and the
field to be used by the join process. Then, the user will select the map
file it will be joined to and the corresponding field it will use for the
join. Once a join is complete, any field in the joined data file can be used
for mapping and reporting.
The software will enable the user who adds the data to designate the users
to whom it will be available. The database will be flexible enough to permit
adding these data after the rest of the database is complete. The Subcommittee
assumes that most of this data will be added by caucus staff for the confidential
use of the caucus.
D. Redistricting Software
1. Display
a. Geography
The redistricting software will display the census geography, taken from
the 2000 TIGER/Line file, along with roads, streets, lakes, rivers, and other
physical features included in the TIGER/Line file, as well as the feature
and political subdivision names. The display will include a pop-up legend-menu
that permits the user to select which boundaries, political subdivision names,
physical features, and feature names to display at each level of resolution,
i.e., county names when viewing the whole state and street names when viewing
census blocks. The user will choose whether to display icons showing the
residences of incumbents.
The software will be capable of showing census geography at the county, city
and town (MCD), precinct (VTD), or block level, and moving quickly up or
down among these levels.
The software will be capable of starting with a wide area, perhaps several
counties, then zooming in on selected cities, towns, precincts, or blocks,
and then zooming back out to a wider area. It will be capable of panning to
adjacent areas in any direction.
Once a user has begun to create districts for a plan, the software will be
capable of showing in a scrolling window statistics for both the district
currently being worked on and all the other districts previously created.
The software will permit the use of color coding to show the districts to
which census units have been assigned in the plan. The colors will fill each
district on the bottom layer, with lines and text above, so that the boundaries,
physical features, and population and election attributes within the district
may still be seen.
The software will also permit the new district boundaries to be shown only
as a line, in order to permit the display of pie charts and thematic shading
within the district.
b. Population and Election Attributes
The redistricting software will enable the user to see the population and
other attributes of the census units in the area being worked on. The user
will be able to display these attributes on the monitor directly on the map
of the area.
On the map, the user will be able to display attributes of the census unit,
such as total population, minority population, and partisan index, in absolute
or percentage terms, in a scrolling window. The user will be able to select
the attributes to be displayed as labels on the map from an attribute menu
listing all the population, election, and other attributes in the database.
On the map, the user will be able to show by color coding or shading how
census units or districts compare to each other on the basis of any attribute
selected from the attribute menu, such as total population, Black population,
or partisan index. The colors will be on the bottom layer, with lines and
text above. The user will be able to easily select the gradients to be used
for color shading.
In a pop-up window for the census unit on which the cursor rests, the user
will be able to display all the population and election attributes of that
census unit that are on the attribute menu.
In a scrollable window for the plan currently being worked on, the user will
be able to display attributes for all the districts so far created. The default
attributes will be:
- Total population
- Deviation from the ideal - absolute
The user will be able to select the attributes to be displayed by selecting
from the attribute menu.
A partisan index may be calculated from a limited number of races, chosen
by the user when beginning a plan. The user will be able to change the index
while working on a plan.
Windows will show:
- The districts currently being worked on, as selected by the user
- A sub-area of census units the user is considering for addition to
or subtraction from one of those districts
- The hypothetical district that would result if the sub-area were added
to or subtracted from the district
All attributes displayed on the map or in a window will be refreshed immediately
as units are assigned, reassigned, or unassigned to districts.
The user will be able to control the portion of the screen that is used for
the map and for each of the attribute windows, so that these can be changed
as the user's needs and expertise change.
2. Assignment
The redistricting software will allow the user to create congressional and
legislative districts by assigning census units to appropriate districts.
The software will be capable of assigning several levels of geography in the
same plan. For example, the software will make it possible to begin assignment
at the county level, then go down to the precinct or block level, and then
revert to the county level, moving swiftly from level to level. The software
will be capable of assigning whole counties, cities, towns, and unorganized
territory to new districts, without specifying the precincts or blocks within
them. The software will be capable of assigning whole precincts to new districts,
but will also be capable of splitting precincts and assigning population
to new districts block by block. It will be capable of making assignments
either unit by unit or by lassoing groups of census units.
Districts will be numbered by the user as they are created. The user will
be able to assign any number appropriate for the type of plan being created
(Congressional, Senate, House), so long as it does not duplicate one already
assigned in that plan. The user will be able to change the number of a district
already created.
The software will check to make sure that no whole census unit is assigned
to more than one district, and that, when a plan is completed, no units have
been left unassigned.
The software will check to make sure that units assigned to a district are
contiguous to other units already assigned to the district.
To assist in preserving the cores of prior districts, the software will permit
the user to "freeze" census units that have been assigned to a district so
that they cannot be reassigned to another district unless the user confirms
the desire to do so.
To avoid contests between incumbents, the software will show the user when
more than one incumbent is included in a district.
3. Plans
The software will permit the boundaries of districts in one plan to be compared
with the boundaries of districts in another plan by showing the boundaries
of a second plan as an overlay on a map showing the boundaries of the first
plan. When two plans are compared in this way, the user will also be able
to display the icons showing the blocks where incumbents reside.
The software will be capable of creating plans that cover only part of the
state and merging them to form a plan for the whole state, as well as creating
plans for the whole state at once. The software will be capable of saving
plans for modification at a later date.
The software will permit the user to create house districts that are nested
within senate districts. It will permit the Senate to create senate district
"1" and then divide it into two house districts, numbered "1A" and "1B."
It will permit the House to create house districts, number them as "1A" and
"1B," and then combine them into senate district "1."
The software will be able to import plans drawn on other systems that use
census geography. That is, it will be capable of reading an equivalency file
that contains a tabular listing of census units in each district and using
that equivalency file to create a plan that the system can display, edit,
and produce maps and reports describing it.
The software will be able to export a plan in the form of an ASCII equivalency
file that can be read by any of the common redistricting software applications.
4. Maps
a. Features
The software will produce maps of the districts created. It will be capable
of showing in printed form all of the information that can be displayed on
the monitor, so that there can be a complete correspondence between what
is on the display, what is shown in the report, and what is shown on the
map. It will be able to scale the maps to print on a plotter size "A " to
"E," as appropriate for the area to be displayed.
The maps will show, not only the district boundaries, but the other political
boundaries and major physical features in the area, with their names properly
located so that the reader can clearly see the political boundary or visible
physical feature that the district line runs along. The maps will also show
the names of at least the largest whole census units included in each district.
The software will be able to produce maps with color shading for the various
districts and defined colors for various physical features, such as blue
for water and red for major roads. The color shading will be on the bottom
layer, with lines and text above.
The software will also be able to produce maps with color shading to show
various kinds of statistical data about the census units and redrawn districts,
such as degrees of population inequality, racial characteristics, and voting
behavior. The color shading will be on the bottom layer, with lines and text
above.
b. Coverage
(1) State Map
Both congressional and legislative plans will have a map of the state, showing
county, city, and town names and boundaries, the largest bodies of water
and their names, and interstate highways and their numbers.
(2) Metropolitan Area Maps
Both congressional and legislative plans will have a map of the seven-county
metropolitan area, showing county, city, and town boundaries and names, and
major highways and bodies of water and their names. Legislative plans will
also have a map of each of the other standard statistical metropolitan areas
within the state, i.e. Duluth, Mankato, Moorhead, Rochester, and St. Cloud.
Both congressional and legislative plans will have a map of the inner metropolitan
area, showing city streets and their names, in addition to the information
on the seven-county map.
(3) County Maps
For either congressional or legislative plans that split county boundaries,
there will be a map of the county, showing city and town names and boundaries,
major highways, and major bodies of water and their names.
(4) City Maps
For either congressional or legislative plans that split city or town boundaries,
there will be a map of the city, showing city streets and highways and major
bodies of water and their names.
(5) District Maps
When a user is building a plan, the user will be able to print a hard copy
of the map on the screen and a larger map that shows a particular district
and its adjacent territory.
(6) Outline Maps
To assist in drafting legal descriptions of districts that split cities,
either outside or within the metropolitan area, the mapping software will
be capable of drawing outline maps that show the boundaries and the names
of the physical features that form the boundary where the district splits
a city.
c. Map Identifier
The software will include a banner or label to identify the operator who
requested the map and the date and time it was printed.
5. Reports
a. Screen Prints
The software will make it possible to print in a report the same information
on the population and voting characteristics of each district as is shown
on the monitor's display.
b. Standard Reports
The software will produce printed reports showing the population and voting
characteristics and the degree of population inequality of each district and
of the plan as a whole.
For a plan, one standard report will be a summary listing only the name of
each district, its total population, its absolute deviation from the ideal,
its percentage deviation from the ideal (carried out to two decimal places),
the absolute overall range of the plan, and the percentage overall range
of the plan (carried out to two decimal places).
The user will be able to create custom reports to show additional summary
data on each district. The customization will be by adding more columns of
data for each district, the data to be selected from the menu of population
and election attributes. To facilitate printing many columns of data, the
custom reports may be printed in landscape mode.
A second standard report for a plan will be a tabular listing of the census
units that make up each district, showing their name (and number, if appropriate)
and total population. Only the largest whole census units in each district
will be listed. That is, if all of a county is in a district, the cities
and towns within it will not be listed; if all of a city is in a district,
the precincts within it will not be listed; and so on.
A third standard report will show the minority population and minority voting
age population of each district, both absolute and percentage.
A fourth standard report will show the number of times that counties, cities,
towns, and precincts are split by the plan and list the districts to which
the various parts of each county, city, town, or precinct were assigned.
A fifth standard report will list the district to which each incumbent member
has been assigned, showing the districts where incumbents are paired and
the districts that are open and the total pairs and open seats.
A sixth standard report will show how each of the districts and the plan
as a whole score on various measures of compactness, including the Reock
test and the Polsby-Popper test (comparing the area of a district with the
area of the smallest circle that can encompass it), the Schwartzberg test
(comparing the perimeter of a district with the circumference of the smallest
circle that can encompass it), the perimeter test (the total length of the
perimeters of all the districts), the population-polygon test, and the population-circle
test.
c. Special Reports
The software will be capable of producing additional reports, as defined
by the user, based on any of the data in the database and plans created.
d. Report Identifier
The software will print a banner or label that identifies the operator who
requested the report and the date and time it was run.
E. Electronic Distribution of Plans
1. Privately Within a Caucus
Each caucus will have an intranet site to which only authorized caucus members
and staff will have access. Security will identify a user by IP address and
password. A plan posted on the site will not be simply a static image but
rather a graphical and statistical database that can be queried but not changed.
A user will be able to view the entire state or zoom down to the block level,
seeing geographical features and their names, querying data attributes for
census units and districts, and viewing standard reports, just as when creating
a plan
2. Publicly in Committee and on the Floor
When a plan is ready for publication at a committee meeting or on the floor,
it will be posted on the GIS Office web site. The posting procedure is explained
in
a separate document
. The Subcommittee assumes that the 2001 Legislature will require that
all plans considered by a committee or on the floor use the same geographic
areas and population counts as in the Subcommittee's redistricting database,
so that this posting of plans may be facilitated. A plan posted on the web
will be open for inspection using the same tools as were available when the
plan was created or when it was posted on its caucus intranet site.
3. After Enactment
When a plan has been enacted it will remain posted on the GIS Office web
site and be made available for FTP download from the site. The GIS Office
will also post the plan on the Minnesota Geographic Data Clearinghouse web
site. The GIS Office will provide an equivalency file of the plan to the
Land Management Information Center for sale to the public on CD-ROM or in
other formats.
F. Operation, Maintenance, and Support
1. Documentation
One set of documentation for the database management and network software
will be provided. Six complete sets of documentation for the redistricting
software will be provided.
2. Training
The software vendor will provide training for the GIS Director in how to
operate and maintain the system, and up to eight caucus staff and two staff
each from Minnesota Planning and the Office of the Secretary of State in how
to use the system to draw redistricting plans and produce maps and reports
describing the plans.
3. Help Line
a. Software
The software vendor will provide telephone software support to answer user
questions during normal business hours.
b. Hardware
Hardware vendors will provide telephone support to answer user questions,
generally on the same terms as the software telephone support.
4. Hardware Maintenance
In addition to telephone support, hardware vendors will make on-site service
available with a response time of no more than four hours for most equipment.
5. Warranties
A combination of warranties and service agreements will insure continued
operation of the system through June 30, 2002.
6. System Administration
Once the caucus staff have begun drawing plans, the GIS Director and Assistant
Director will be on call to backup the system regularly and solve problems
as they arise.
III. Use of System
The computerized redistricting system will be used by the Minnesota Legislature
to draw redistricting plans and to make copies of the plans available to
the state and local officials who must implement them. Use of each caucus
work site is under the control of that caucus. The GIS Director's work site
is for the exclusive use of the GIS Director to maintain the system, not
to draw plans.
The system may also be used by a three-judge state or federal court to draw
redistricting plans. The system will not be made available to anyone else
for their use in redistricting.
The Subcommittee reserves the right to make the database available to political
subdivisions for their use, but will not allow the system software to be
copied or used anywhere other than at the work sites described in this document.
The system will be retained by the Legislature and used for other geographic
data analysis after June 30, 2002.
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