Statement in Opposition to the Deschutes County Redistricting Process and Proposed Map

We are community members, elected officials, and organizations in opposition to the redistricting process and proposed map drawn by the Deschutes County District Mapping Advisory Committee. Many of us are from trusted good government organizations with deep knowledge of electoral reform and best practices for redistricting, and we believe this process has been flawed and rushed from the beginning. The lack of transparency and public input has led to distrust in our county government, and if this map is implemented it will undermine our democracy. We’ve identified the following serious issues with the redistricting process and resulting map:

Lack of Community Involvement in the Redistricting Process

A good redistricting process requires extensive planning, time, and resources put into soliciting community input to help define communities of interest BEFORE the map drawing process begins and then should allow public testimony to get input on the proposed map or maps after they are drawn. Neither of these things happened. Instead of conducting extensive outreach and partnering with community organizations to get the multiple hours of public input required to do this right, the DMAC limited testimony to 15 or 30 minutes per weekly meeting AFTER the map drawing process began, with minimal effort to get input. The final act of the DMAC was to end public meetings a week early to rush a product to the County Commissioners and deprive community members a final chance at public testimony.

Partisan Influence and Ethical Lapses on the District Mapping Advisory Committee

Good government groups such as the League of Women Voters and Common Cause advocate for non-partisan, independent redistricting commissions with a member body that is representative of the community at large. Unfortunately, the Deschutes County Commission used a highly partisan process to select a redistricting map drawing committee of 7 that had a Republican majority, 1 Democrat, 2 women, and no people of color. Votes on process, criteria, and map selection went down partisan lines, reflecting political bias. In addition, Phil Henderson, a former Republican County Commissioner and member of the redistricting committee, made a campaign contribution to Tony DeBone on October 12th, while DMAC members were still in the map drawing process. DeBone is a sitting Republican Deschutes County Commissioner that was involved in the selection of the DMAC members and DeBone has a say on whether to send the map to the voters. This is a conflict of interest.

A Resulting Map that Violates Majority Rules and Further Undermines Our Democracy

In our view, given the process and outcome, the final map to go before the commissioners that, if a majority accepts, will go before the voters, is a gerrymander. The 5 districts are drawn in such a way that 3 will consistently elect conservative candidates, ensuring a Republican leaning commission in a county that has a Democratic over Republican registration advantage and has voted Democratic in the last two presidential cycles.

We are dismayed that the Deschutes County Commission chose to take a page from the playbook of hyper-partisans at the national stage and weaponize redistricting in what appears to be a blatant attempt at a power grab. Good democracy requires transparency, community engagement, and outcomes that work to enfranchise and empower ALL people that live here. The DMAC process and outcomes have failed all these criteria. We have made a collective commitment to not only defend democracy, but also improve it, and this starts with fighting the implementation of this gerrymandered map.

Respectfully,