Demographer says Parish Council will have to redraw districts

FRANKLIN — The St. Mary Parish Council will have to draw new districts based on 2020 Census results that show the biggest population losses occurred in the districts with the largest minority population, according to data presented by the man who hopes to be hired for the remapping.
Mike Hefner of Geographic Planning & Demographic Services of Lafayette told the council Wednesday that five of the eight council districts now vary from the target number by more than the 5% standard set by the Voting Rights Act.
Hefner’s company redrew the Parish Council districts after the Census in 2000 and 2010. Geographic Planning & Demographic Service has been hired by the St. Mary School Board to perform redistricting this year. The Parish Council has yet to decide which company to hire this year.
The Parish Council has 11 members. Three are elected at-large in parish-wide voting. The other eight members are elected from smaller districts.
The 2020 Census showed that in the previous decade, St. Mary’s population fell 9% to 49,406, making the target population for each district 6,176.
The population of District 1, in west St. Mary, is now 661 less than the target number, and District 2, also in west St. Mary, falls 385 people short. District 1’s black population is 51%, and District’s 2’s is 56% black.
District’s 4, 5 and 6, from Morgan City to Patterson, exceed the target number by 6-8%.
The Voting Rights Act requires districts to be compact and contiguous, to be drawn in accord with the one person, one vote principle, and to protect minority voting strength.
“It needs to be a very fair and open and public process,” Hefner said.