Rep. Nelda Speaks presents congressional map she says is 'defensible' and keeps deviations under 1%

Representative Nelda Speaks (District 100) presented House Bill 1959 to a joint Senate committee, describing a congressional map she said keeps district populations close to parity and ‘‘can be defended if it’s challenged in court.’’ She told the committee the plan moves Marion and Boone counties into the 1st District, returns a split in Jefferson County to the 4th District and keeps Crawford and Sebastian counties in the 3rd.

The proposal, Speaks said, was drawn to avoid splitting counties where possible and to keep districts within roughly 1% of the target population. ‘‘This map has the 4 congressional districts under 1% per population,’’ she said during her presentation, adding she would stand a court challenge if necessary.

Committee members asked BLR (legislative counsel) about legal limits on permissible deviation. BLR counsel responded that ‘‘there is not a constitutionally established percentage for a deviation’’ and that courts assess the totality of circumstances under the guiding principle of ‘‘one person, one vote.’’ Several senators pressed whether future population growth should be anticipated when setting starting deviations; BLR and sponsors said staff would provide historical growth data for members to review.

Several members of the public spoke during the hearing. Robert Walker, a Pulaski County resident who said he worked a Little Rock precinct in a recent special election, warned against splitting precincts because doing so ‘‘confuses me’’ and forces additional ballots. Sarah Dunklin, first congressional district chair of the Republican Party of Arkansas, and landowner Laurie Black both urged keeping row-crop farming communities together in the 1st District, arguing shared economic interests improve representation.

Speaks closed by reiterating her map’s goals of minimizing county splits and staying below the 1% deviation benchmark. The committee took no votes; sponsors said they would revise their proposals based on feedback and that staff would post map materials online as permitted.