R i g h t a r d i a: Florida population growth spurred by Hispanics which complicates congressional redistricting for GOP

Friday, October 21, 2011

Florida population growth spurred by Hispanics which complicates congressional redistricting for GOP

The "Inside the Lines" blog tracks the Florida redistricting process.

Florida is gaining two congressional seats because of Hispanic population growth primarily in Central Florida. The GOP has been bashing Hispanic immigrants for quite a while, so GOP Florida lawmakers are not too excited about creating two new Hispanic districts.

A GOP state senator said that voters should be screened for citizenship before legislators draw a congressional district to favor Hispanics.

Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla, said this before the Senate committee reviewing a series of congressional redistricting plans:

I think we need to direct the staff, and we ourselves need to consider very, very cautiously before we design a district anywhere in the State of Florida for Hispanic voters, we need to ascertain that they are citizens of the United States. We all know there are many Hispanic speaking people in Florida that are not legal, and I don’t think it’s right that we try to draw a district that encompasses people who really have no business voting anyhow. Now if we know that registered voters are people who have proven their citizenship, then that’s a completely different story, but I am not aware of any proof of citizenship necessary before you register to vote,

Senator Janet Cruz wants Senator Hays to remove himself from the Senate Reapportionment Committee
Cruz said:

He is calling on a witch hunt before a Hispanic district can be realistically considered. Moreover, he asks for it in the Orlando area, which houses a predominately Puerto Rican population, who are natural born citizens.

Rightrdia agrees with Seantor Cruz. Senator Hayes uninformed comments have compromised him.