Voting districts are redrawn every ten years, after the U.S. census is completed. In 2021, Macon County board districts were redrawn. Republican County Board members proposed two maps. During the Republican Caucus (a thirty minute meeting of Republican members prior to a county board meeting) on October 14th, 2021, Republicans took a straw poll (informal) vote to pass the second map they proposed.
Jerry Stocks, a former Macon County Republican Chairman, and an attorney for the Macon County Republican Party, said the second Republican map was more "legally defensible" than the first one due to concerns of "cracking" voting districts. "Cracking" means splitting voting districts, resulting in a reduction of voting power of a demographic minority.
Macon County Democrat Chair Karl Coleman alleged that the second Republican map is "packing" black voters into a single district and may violate the 1965 Voting Rights Act. "Packing" means combining voters of a demographic minority into a single voting district to concentrate minority votes into one district and reduce minority voting power across other districts.
Democratic Board Members proposed a new map. Josh Tanner, our Republican County Clerk, also proposed a new map, which had minimal changes from the previous map and retained all 7 voting districts (thus 21 board members, 3 per district). Democratic board members approved of Tanner's map. The Republican majority on the County Board voted to approve the second map proposed by Macon County Republicans and did not approve either the Democrat map or Tanner's map.
County Board Chair, Kevin Greenfield (Republican) cited concerns about population decline over the last ten years. When pressed, he and Republican Board Member Linda Little mentioned population decline over the past 30 years. Linda Little also remarked this was the third time they'd tried to put through the redistricting, having previously tried in 2000 and 2010. Macon County Population was 117,206 in 1990 and 103,998 in 2020.
Republicans also stated interest in reducing the budget by reducing the Board size to 15 members from 21. The annual savings for board salaries will be about $12,000. Kevin Greenfield also mentioned this reduction in board size will lead to an increased workload for the 15 County Board Members after the 2022 election. The county has since hired a County Administrator, a move that had bipartisan support. Karl Coleman expressed concerns that the county may incur costs as a result of lawsuit(s) regarding the redistricting.
Sources, Additional Reporting
This is a trimmed down summary of other reporting. I, Reed Sutman, was present during the Republican Caucus. I reported on the redistricting at that time in much greater detail. My old reporting includes my personal opinion and biases. I have attempted to write this summary neutrally.
- Love Decatur, How Macon County Republicans Took Full Control of the County Board
- Herald & Review, Macon County Board proposed redistricting sparks protest
- Herald & Review, Macon County Board approves amended redistricting plan, but concerns remain
- WAND TV, Macon Co. board votes to reduce number of members with redrawn map