HF 1020

as introduced - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                             A resolution
  1.2             memorializing Congress to take necessary steps to 
  1.3             ensure that the 2000 decennial census is conducted 
  1.4             fairly and legally. 
  1.5      
  1.6      WHEREAS, the United States Constitution requires an actual 
  1.7   enumeration of the population every ten years, and entrusts 
  1.8   Congress with overseeing all aspects of each decennial 
  1.9   enumeration; and 
  1.10     WHEREAS, the sole constitutional purpose of the decennial 
  1.11  census is to apportion the seats in Congress among the several 
  1.12  states; and 
  1.13     WHEREAS, an accurate and legal decennial census is 
  1.14  necessary to properly apportion United States House of 
  1.15  Representatives seats among the 50 states and to create 
  1.16  legislative districts within the states; and 
  1.17     WHEREAS, an accurate and legal decennial census is 
  1.18  necessary to enable states to comply with the constitutional 
  1.19  mandate of drawing state legislative districts within the 
  1.20  states; and 
  1.21     WHEREAS, the United States Constitution, article 1, section 
  1.22  2, in order to ensure an accurate count, and to minimize the 
  1.23  potential for political manipulation, mandates an "actual 
  1.24  enumeration" of the population, which requires a physical 
  1.25  headcount of the population and prohibits statistical guessing 
  2.1   or estimates of the population; and 
  2.2      WHEREAS, United States Code, title 13, section 195, 
  2.3   consistent with this constitutional mandate, expressly prohibits 
  2.4   the use of statistical sampling to enumerate the United States 
  2.5   population for the purpose of reapportioning the United States 
  2.6   House of Representatives; and 
  2.7      WHEREAS, legislative redistricting conducted by the states 
  2.8   is a critical subfunction of the constitutional requirement to 
  2.9   apportion representatives among the states; and 
  2.10     WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court, in No. 98-404, 
  2.11  Department of Commerce, et al. v. United States House of 
  2.12  Representatives, et al., together with No. 98-564, Clinton, 
  2.13  President of the United States, et al. v. Glavin, et al. ruled 
  2.14  on January 25, 1999, that the Census Act prohibits the Census 
  2.15  Bureau's proposed uses of statistical sampling in calculating 
  2.16  the population for purposes of apportionment; and 
  2.17     WHEREAS, in reaching its findings, the United States 
  2.18  Supreme Court found that the use of statistical procedures to 
  2.19  adjust census numbers would create a dilution of voting rights 
  2.20  for citizens in legislative redistricting, thus violating legal 
  2.21  guarantees of "one-person, one-vote"; and 
  2.22     WHEREAS, consistent with this ruling and the constitutional 
  2.23  and legal relationship of legislative redistricting by the 
  2.24  states to the apportionment of the United States House of 
  2.25  Representatives, the use of adjusted census data would raise 
  2.26  serious questions of vote dilution and violate "one-person, 
  2.27  one-vote" legal protections, thus exposing the state of 
  2.28  Minnesota to protracted litigation over legislative 
  2.29  redistricting plans at great cost to the taxpayers of the state 
  2.30  of Minnesota, and likely result in a court ruling invalidating 
  2.31  any legislative redistricting plan using census numbers that 
  2.32  have been determined in whole or in part by the use of random 
  2.33  sampling techniques or other statistical methodologies that add 
  2.34  or subtract persons to the census counts based solely on 
  2.35  statistical inference; and 
  2.36     WHEREAS, consistent with this ruling, no person enumerated 
  3.1   in the census should ever be deleted from the census 
  3.2   enumeration; and 
  3.3      WHEREAS, consistent with this ruling, every reasonable and 
  3.4   practical effort should be made to obtain the fullest and most 
  3.5   accurate count of the population possible, including appropriate 
  3.6   funding for state and local census outreach and education 
  3.7   programs, as well as a provision for postcensus local review; 
  3.8   NOW, THEREFORE, 
  3.9      BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota 
  3.10  that it calls on the Bureau of the Census to conduct the 2000 
  3.11  decennial census consistent with the aforementioned United 
  3.12  States Supreme Court ruling and constitutional mandate, which 
  3.13  require a physical headcount of the population and bars the use 
  3.14  of statistical sampling to create or in any way adjust the count.
  3.15     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature opposes the use 
  3.16  of P.L. 97-171 data for state legislative redistricting based on 
  3.17  census numbers that have been determined in whole or in part by 
  3.18  the use of statistical inferences derived by means of random 
  3.19  sampling techniques or other statistical methodologies that add 
  3.20  or subtract persons to the census counts. 
  3.21     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature demands that it 
  3.22  receive P.L. 94-171 data for legislative redistricting identical 
  3.23  to the census tabulation data used to apportion seats in the 
  3.24  United States House of Representatives consistent to the 
  3.25  aforementioned United States Supreme Court ruling and 
  3.26  constitutional mandate, which require a physical headcount of 
  3.27  the population and bars the use of statistical sampling to 
  3.28  create or in any way adjust the count. 
  3.29     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature urges Congress, 
  3.30  as the branch of government assigned the responsibility of 
  3.31  overseeing the decennial enumeration, to take whatever steps are 
  3.32  necessary to ensure that the 2000 decennial census is conducted 
  3.33  fairly and legally. 
  3.34     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the 
  3.35  State of Minnesota is directed to prepare copies of this 
  3.36  memorial and transmit them to the Speaker of the United States 
  4.1   House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the United 
  4.2   States Senate, and the Vice-President and President of the 
  4.3   United States.