A new report from The USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy shows that Amendment 3 would have an extraordinarily negative impact on Missouri’s children and families if it is passed and fully implemented. The report focuses on one of the most radical provisions of Amendment 3, which seeks to make Missouri the first state to draw district maps that do not count all of the state’s residents.
The sponsor of Amendment 3 has explained that the goal of Amendment 3 is to draw maps based on the eligible voter population of the state, also known as “citizen voting-age population” (CVAP). Such a change would mean that more than 1.5 million Missourians, almost all of them children, would not be represented in the General Assembly.
The full report may be found on The Schwarzenegger Institute’s website here. Key conclusions include:
In Missouri, we find that the use of CVAP [citizen voting-age population] for redistricting will have the greatest negative impact on communities with significant numbers of people under the age of 18. Missouri has very few non-citizens in its state, and thus the impact of this new form of gerrymandering using CVAP will be felt the most in those areas with large numbers of families with children.
Report authors are Matthew Mendez Garcia, Faculty Fellow at the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, and Christian R. Grose, Associate Professor of Political Science and Academic Director, USC Schwarzenegger Institute.
Arnold Schwarznegger has been a national leader in championing nonpartisan redistricting reforms, and has helped bring together gerrymandering experts. After serving as Republican Governor of California, Schwarznegger established The USC Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy to advance policies where leaders put people over political parties and work together to find the best ideas and solutions to benefit the people they serve.