Arizona’s communities of color fight for fair redistricting

Vidya Sethuraman
India Post News Service

In Arizona, the redistricting process is run by an independent commission. The One Arizona coalition, made up of community organizations across the state, is fighting back against the lack of access and transparency for public hearings. The briefing on Sep 22, 2021 explained the groups mobilizing for fair redistricting, representation for communities of color, and holding the commission accountable. 2020 Census figures show that Arizona’s population has grown by more than 11% – 759,485 people – since 2010.

“We have seen a lack of investment from the beginning,” said Reginald Bolding, minority leader in the state’s house of representatives representing District 27, starting from last year’s effort to get a complete, accurate count in the 2020 Census.

Not enough hearings have been hosted in predominantly Latino or Native American areas. And there’s been insufficient bilingual public outreach to educate people about the importance of redistricting, which can dramatically impact political representation in a state.  “These hearings aren’t being hosted in communities of color and the commission was not making an effort to reach us,” said Victoria Grijalva Ochoa, program manager at One Arizona, a coalition of organizations that advocate for voting access in marginalized communities, among other issues.

Sandy Ochoa, the Tucson coordinator for Mi Familia Vota, said that the commission has “absolutely” failed to communicate with Latino communities about the redistricting process.  “The outreach was not done that should have been done,” she said. Redistricting is the next fight in the battle to protect our democracy,

Jaynie Parrish, a member of the Navajo Nation and the executive director of the Navajo County Democrats who has been working with other indigenous activists to try and get people to attend the meetings, said that several  “satellite” meetings that were slated to occur at various locations on tribal lands were canceled.

Andrea Varela, of the One Arizona Coalition and Rural Arizona Engagement (RAZE), said she grew up noticing disparities in resources and representation between rural and urban areas. “This redistricting cycle is our chance to shape the future,” she said. “I believe in building community power and this can only be done by targeting underrepresented communities and communities of color and meeting them where they are at to face the issues that affect us all.”