“Redistricting is not about numbers, it’s about people — how people get political power,” Garcia said during a briefing Oct. 6 at the Marriott Biscayne Bay in downtown Miami.
In Florida — infamous for vote suppression — how minorities can protect their interests during the redrawing of congressional boundaries was also addressed by Jean-Robert Lafortune, president, Haitian Grassroots Coalition; Leon Russell, legislative chairman, Florida NAACP and vice chairman for the NAACP national board of directors; and Juan Cartagena, president and general counsel, LatinoJustice PRLDEF. New American Media, which organized the session, reported that the 2010 Census shows Florida’s population having grown by 18 percent — far outpacing the national rate in adding 2.8 million voters — but the Republican-dominated legislature, fearing that ethnic voters will swing Democratic, has not released redistricting maps to the public.
Photo: C.B. HANIF/FOR SOUTH FLORIDA TIMES
Strong Message: John Garcia, communications director for Latino-Justice PRLDEF, spoke along with (L-R) Jean-Robert Lafortune, Leon Russell and Juan Cartagena during a recent discussion of the impact of redistricting on minorities.
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