By Veronica Perry
On April 22, California Secretary of State Alex Padilla joined Professor Mindy Romero, founder and director of the California Civic Engagement Project, Professor Christian Grose, academic director of the USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy and Karen Flynn, president of Common Cause to speak about redistricting, voting by mail and political participation during COVID-19. More than 500 individuals signed up to attend the Price Talk on Zoom.
Romero began the talk by polling the audience, asking: “Which of the following most concerns you in terms COVID19’s impact on the November 2020 election?” Of the audience members who participated, 31% said “disenfranchisement of historically underrepresented groups,” 25% said “expanding vote by mail,” 16% said “access to in person voting,” and 13% said “election security and hacking.”
These powerful results framed the discussion to come. Romero introduced Grose, who spoke about gerrymandering, redistricting and the primaries. He addressed census delays due to COVID-19 and one big consequence. “After the census, which is the count of the number of people in the United States, redistricting takes place, which is the redrawing of lines and for Congress and state legislators,” Grose explained. His concern about delayed redistricting due to the census is focused on gerrymandering, which could adversely impact minority voters and their subsequent voting power. “Gerrymandering is when there is some form of redistricting that helps a particular group. Partisan gerrymandering is the best-known – [certain boundaries] that would help elect Republicans or help elect Democrats. But then, there’s other forms of gerrymandering too,” he went on to say.
Grose noted that if the delay in the census is significant, it will also limit the capabilities of states to draw lines that influence the election of congress members and state legislators. “We know that in states that are not like California, where legislators draw their own lines, legislators are interested in protecting their own parties and helping themselves get reelected,” Grose said. He also remarked that with public attention directed at the COVID-19 pandemic, if the census is delayed, it is possible that state legislatures could use other data besides the census in the redistricting process.
In response, Flynn stressed the importance of maintaining “a fair and accurate count for the census for all communities, particularly those that have been marginalized and historically missed in the past.” She made a point to note efforts to monitor any changes in the census Bureau. “[Common Cause] will be watching for states that will use the delayed-release census data to postpone redistricting until 2023 or 2024,” she said.
Flynn went on to say that special attention will also be paid to states that may use COVID-19 to alter laws to change redistricting deadlines or limit redistricting to only citizens over the age of 18. “For nearly a century, we’ve drawn district lines based on total population to ensure that every person has representation in the halls of power and the ability to be counted. Shortened time periods to draw new lines could jeopardize time for real public input from communities,” she said.
Secretary Padilla discussed the importance of the census further, explaining that it drives federal funding for each state as well as every community – including funding for public health, education, infrastructure and housing, to name a few. “Because it drives the reapportionment process and fuels the redistricting process, unfortunately it has become a target for political manipulation,” Padilla said. “The best thing that we could do to ensure that fair redistricting has been done.”
Redistricting wasn’t the only topic of note during this Price Talk. Both Romero and Padilla reminded listeners that there will be an election in the fall and that voter representation is key. However, the need to ensure accessibility, participation and representation present concerns amidst the nationwide pandemic. “The decisions election officials are making now across the country are going to have great impacts on potentially the size of [voter] turnout, but very importantly, the makeup of our electorate as access could be disproportionately disadvantaged,” Romero said.
Even without the ramifications of COVID-19, Romero explained, there are still disparities in turnout and representation. “Widening those disparities is concerning and has a significant impact on voice, representation and policy choices. So, turnout matters, representation matters,” she elaborated.
Romero and Padilla both agreed that vote-by-mail is a safe alternative to in-person voting. Romero touched on concerns surrounding the vote-by-mail option and explained that voter fraud is few and far between. She also expressed that if vote-by-mail options become available in places where it previously was not available, Congress should not only fund the administrative aspects but the outreach and communication as well.
Padilla noted that California already has much of the infrastructure in place to accommodate a variety of voting options for the upcoming election. “It’s a matter of how we scale up county by county to that model,” he said. Padilla also stated the importance of preserving in-person voting options and implementing appropriate safety measures for doing so.
In contrast, Flynn brought to light some potential dangers states may face when quickly offering a vote-by-mail option. “[States] may be quickly developing these systems to access statewide voter databases from polling places via either electronic poll books or building or adapting online voter registration systems to accommodate absentee ballot requests,” Flynn said. “They need to be very careful and utilize best practices to protect their databases and also create recovery and resilience plans for tax on these systems.”
After the esteemed speakers concluded their talks, Zoom and Facebook Live audiences asked questions. Some touched on the impacts of census delays, while others focused on the empowerment of vulnerable populations, the connection between gerrymandering and states with large prison populations, concerns about voter outreach, and the possibility of online voting. The full Price Talk can be accessed and watched here. Tune into future Price Talks by registering today.
Price Talks: Policy in a Pandemic is a virtual series examining policy challenges around the COVID-19 pandemic. USC Price faculty share their expert perspective on the critical issues that are important to us all in lunchtime Zoom presentations open to the public and Price community. Topics include examining the impact of the crisis on the economy, the homeless crisis, voter turn-out in this year’s election, local government services and our public health infrastructure. Learn about our upcoming talks here: https://priceschool.usc.edu/covid-19/price-talks-policy-in-a-pandemic/
Assistant Professor (Research)