Scored Maps from the Redistricting Report Card

Communities of Interest

Check out Communities of Interest collected in this state on Representable

Learn about Communities of Interest in this state

Census-related Redistricting Timeline Delays

Process

State Legislature

Oklahoma's state legislative and congressional district lines are drawn by the state Legislature by ordinary statute, and are subject to the governor's veto. The Legislature can override vetoes with a two-thirds vote in each chamber.

Back-Up Commission

If the Legislature fails to pass a plan, a seven-member backup commission assumes redistricting authority (Art. V § 11A). The Lieutenant Governor serves as the nonvoting chair of the commission; the Governor and the two legislative majority leaders each choose one Republican and one Democrat to serve as commissioners. 

Criteria

In addition to the federal requirements of one person, one vote and the Voting Rights Act, Oklahoma’s state constitution (Art. V, § 9A) requires that state Senate districts be compact, contiguous, preserve political subdivisions, and preserve communities of interest. In 2011, the redistricting committee of the state House adopted similar guidelines requiring state House and congressional districts be compact, contiguous, preserve political subdivisions, and preserve communities of interest as well. Additionally, districts may preserve the core of existing districts and consider the place of residence of incumbents. 

Public Input

While Oklahoma law does not require public hearings, the Legislature has already held over 20 public meetings to receive feedback. Public map submissions were also accepted. Both the Senate and the House have released their 2020 redistricting websites, with relevant information about redistricting and portals to submit feedback. This follows earlier promises from the House Speaker and Senate Pro Tempore to seek public input.

Issues

Pitfalls

Both chambers of the Legislature and the Governorship are controlled by Republicans. Single-party control increases the risk of partisan and racial gerrymandering.

Because of its substantial Native American population, Oklahoma has special challenges in making certain that they are represented.

Potential Reform

On July 17, 2020, People Not Politicians withdrew its petition for its ballot initiative, State Question 810, due to the current public health crisis. Signature gathering has been placed on hold by the Secretary of State during the pandemic. Although the initiative will not appear on the November ballot, it may still serve as an example for future reform efforts. 

• State Question 810 would have created a nine-member independent citizen commission with three commissioners from the largest party, three from the second largest, and three unaffiliated with either. To briefly summarize the selection process, a panel of three retired judges would randomly choose the final commissioners from the three representative pools of the 20 most qualified applicants in each partisan category.
• The commission would have to maintain standards of transparency and public input, including at least one hearing per congressional district with prior notice, data and draft map publication, and a website for citizens to submit comments and draft plans. 
• Map approval would require six votes in a public voting meeting, including one per partisan category. If no map is approved, the appointed Special Master would submit a report and all draft plans to the state Supreme Court, who would approve a plan within 30 days.
• The initiative would also enshrine redistricting criteria, beginning with compliance with federal law and contiguity and ranked in order of priority: (1) minimizing the splitting of communities of interest, defined as an area with similar interests but not including partisanship; (2) prohibiting districts that deny or abridge the voting rights of racial and ethnic minorities; (3) ensuring partisan fairness on a statewide level; (4) respecting the geographic integrity of political subdivisions; and (5) being compact. Additionally, the commission cannot take incumbent or candidate address into account nor the party affiliation or voting history of the population of a district.

Actions

Partner with People Not Politicians to push for a constitutional amendment that creates an independent redistricting commission.

• Learn more about their recent effort, which was unfortunately disrupted by the pandemic, under Potential Reform.

In 2021, participate in the Legislature’s public input process.

• Obtain Oklahoma redistricting data from OpenPrecincts.
• Start to plan out what defines your community – whether it’s a shared economic interest, school districts, or other social or other cultural, historical, or economic interests – and how that can be represented on a map. This will come in handy once the Legislature starts collecting feedback.
• Use software tools such as Dave's Redistricting App and Districtr to draw district maps showing either (a) what a fair map would look like, or (b) where the community you believe should be better represented is located.

Contacts

People Not Politicians

Let's Fix This OK

League of Women Voters Oklahoma

Sources

All About Redistricting

NCSL

Ballotpedia