When the results of the 2010 Census were released, reporting population statistics in Dallas County and in Selma, local officials were either pleased or simply OK with the results.

The city of Selma grew by a few hundred people, while the county suffered only a slight population decline.

But, compared with the rest of Alabama’s Black Belt and the Seventh Congressional District, those in charge were very likely ecstatic.

Overall, the congressional district lost more than 5 percent of its population, throwing the district into the middle of a potential political battle that begins this week.

As members of the Permanent Legislative Committee on Reapportionment begin two weeks of public hearings, some local leaders are growing concerned about the political tenor of the process and nervous about what changes the makeup of the congressional district may have.

Public hearing scheduled

After some uncertainty, rescheduling and a little confusion, it appears Selma will in fact host one of the planned six public hearings to discuss reapportionment and redistricting within the state of Alabama.

Officials with the Permanent Legislative Committee on Reapportionment confirmed Monday, Selma would host a public hearing on Friday, May 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the St. James Hotel on Water Avenue.

The meeting, open to the public, is part of a two-week process for the committee, who will hold meetings in Montgomery, Birmingham, Mobile and Huntsville.

According to a release from the committee, the meetings seek to “receive input from interested citizens and citizen groups on issues relating to redrawing congressional and state school board district lines.”

This process is enacted every 10 years to coincide with changes in population from the most recent Census.

“… the Legislature is required to redraw congressional and state school board lines to comply with the one person, one vote requirement of the federal constitution, and the representation requirement of the state constitution,” the release said.

The meeting, which was initially announced in a release from the committee on Wednesday, May 4, was quickly cast in doubt a day later when a committee release on May 5, said the meeting was “to be announced.” No one with the committee could provide information on why the change or confusion but did confirm the May 13 meeting time.

Political tug-of-war

The act of redrawing congressional lines is a heated process not just in Alabama, but also throughout the country, as the process is handled by state Legislatures that are controlled by either Republicans or Democrats.

In Alabama’s case, a Republican-led Legislature will control the redrawing of districts for the first time since Reconstruction. State Democrats have already complained about portions of the process and already complained about some GOP redistricting plans.

“While the Republican redistricting plan is focused on preserving the interests of a political party, our proposal concentrates on defending the interests of Alabama voters and their communities,” State Rep. Craig Ford (D-Gadsden) said. Ford is also the Alabama House minority leader. “The redistricting process is supposed to be governed by principles, not politics, and that’s what the Democratic proposal vows to protect.”

The makeup of the committee has also drawn some concern by some legislators.

Of the 22 members, made up of state senators and state representatives, 16 are Republicans while only six are Democrats.

“I do not believe it is a fairly composed committee,” State Sen. Hank Sanders (D-Selma) said. “I am not sure how previous committees have been broken up, but nearly 75 percent of the committee being Republican does not sound like a well composed committee.”

Todd Stacy, spokesperson for Alabama Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard (R-Auburn), said the process of selecting the committee members was “by the book” and “represented the make up of the current Alabama Legislature.”

“Both the Speaker and the Lieutenant Governor (Kay Ivey) appointed the members of the committee according to the guidelines,” Stacy said. “It is one of the few committee responsibilities that is outlined by the state’s constitution.”

According to Alabama Code, the committee must be made up of 22 members as follows: “one member of the House of Representatives from each congressional district, four members of the House of Representatives at-large to be appointed by the Speaker of the House and one member of the Senate from each congressional district, four members of the Senate at-large, to be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor.”

And it is not just the congressional district lines that will be affected. The districts making up the state’s school board will also be evaluated and redrawn.

“It is of great concern to me just how these lines are drawn,” Sanders said. “Friday’s meeting is very important, giving citizens the chance to hear of the plans and to offer any comments they want. But, any proposal has to go through the Legislature and already, I am concerned about what might happen.”

State school board member Ella Bell represents District 5, which inlcudes the Dallas County area. It is also her district that is the state’s largest land mass and includes many of the state’s poorest areas. Attempts to contact Bell for comment about the redistricting plan were unsuccessful.

In a column appearing in Tuesday’s Times-Journal, State Rep. Darrio Melton (D-Selma), who is in his first term as a state representative, said the make up of the committee should be re-evaluated and replaced with a Democratic-proposed commission.

“To eliminate political interests from the redistricting process, the Democratic plan proposes a non-partisan commission composed of eight appointees and one elected chairperson,” Melton wrote. “This plan will create a non-partisan commission that gives Alabamians the best chance to fair and equal redistricting. This plan was also designed to protect voters as well.”

Monday afternoon, in an interview with the Times-Journal, Melton again stressed the importance of trying to remove politics from the process.

“I know it is hard to imagine politicians putting together that is non-partisan,” Melton said. “But, we should do everything we can do to remove politics from something that is so important.”

Numbers game

According to information from the 2010 Census, the Seventh Congressional District lost 5.3 percent of its population, falling to 603,352 people. That makes it the Seventh District the state’s smallest congressional district and is the only district to have lost population between the 2000 Census and the 2010 Census.

With population shifts over the past few decades, the influence of historic population centers such as Selma and Demopolis in the Seventh Congressional District have been weakened as the redistricting began to pull in more populated areas such as portions of Birmingham and Tuscaloosa.

According to federal mandate, each congressional district is to be as equal in population to other congressional districts in each state.

With Alabama keeping seven congressional districts, Sanders said the Seventh Congressional District, which is represented by Selma native U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham) is currently an estimated 79,000 residents short and redistricting will have to pull in enough residents to try to find a balance.

“I am not sure where they are going to find 79,000 people to pull from,” Sanders said. “I don’t think there’s any way they can do it without going into Montgomery.”

Currently, the Seventh Congressional District has as one of its borders as Dallas County. The Second Congressional District, currently represented by U.S. Rep. Martha Roby (R-Montgomery), includes neighboring Lowndes and Autauga counties.

While the Seventh Congressional District lost 5.3 percent, the Second Congressional District grew by 5.8 percent. The district that saw the largest increase was the Sixth Congressional District, currently represented by U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Birmingham).

The Sixth District also borders the Seventh District and grew by 18.4 percent between the 2000 Census and 2010 Census. According to statistics, it has the largest population wise with 754,482 people.

Melton said state staff, who are scheduled to attend Friday’s public hearing in Selma, might provide some information on early plans of where population may be pulled from to help the district balance its numbers.

Not just Congress and state school board

This same committee will also be charged with redrawing the district lines for state senate and Alabama House seats.

The Congressional and state board redistricting lines will go into affect for the 2012 elections, but the work the committee will do on the state senate and house seats will not go into effect until the 2014 elections.

With population shifts — and political shifts — since the 2000 election, both Melton and Sanders are sure there will be plenty of tough negotiations in that process as well.

“This might just be a warm up of what we might come to expect later when it comes down to everyone fighting for their own districts,” Melton said.