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<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> TAB 4 <br /> GENERAL HOUSEKEEPING <br /> <br /> Some attention should be given to "straightening" political boundaries into more <br /> uniform shape. In some cases, certain boundaries may be altered to use a more commonly <br /> understood or recognized physical boundary in lieu of a poorly identified or recognized <br /> boundary. Public Law 94-171, which directed the Census Bureau to develop a uniform <br /> mapping and demographic profiling approach for use by small computers, required that all <br /> voter tabulation districts (VTDs) follow census block boundaries. In many cases, City <br /> wards had been previously drawn in a manner that did not follow a census block boundary. <br /> This required the State of Texas, acting in conjunction with the State Data Center and the <br /> Texas Legislative Council, to move the actual voting district boundary to coincide with a <br /> nearby census block boundary for tabulation purposes only. The resulting VTD was no <br /> longer "actual," but an approximation referred to as a "pseudo-voting district." <br /> Every reasonable effort has been made to conform the pseudo voting district to <br /> actual political boundaries. However, due to the nature of the available data base, and the <br /> requirements of Public Law 94-171, there may be occasions in which the pseudo voting <br /> districts, or the resulting lines between City Council Wards, are different from those that <br /> actually exist. Again, the use of the pseudo voting district was for tabulation purposes only, <br /> and any apparent difference between actual and apparent political lines should be considered <br /> as minimal. However, since all later census counts will be undertaken upon the census <br /> blocks, there could be a valid argument that a necessity to alter current election district <br /> boundaries to match the census block format exists. Under these circumstances, new <br /> political lines will be required to avoid conflict with census block lines that do not match <br /> current political area definitions. While matching census blocks to actual political lines <br /> would not, in and of itself, generally support a decision to reapportion under the <br /> circumstances that exist in the City of Paris, there is a justifiable combination of factors that <br /> would support a reapportionment decision. These factors would include: <br /> <br /> 1. Redrawing election precincts to increase voter convenience. <br /> <br /> 2. Harmonizing actual political lines with pseudo voting districts based upon <br /> census blocks. <br /> 3. Redrawing all lines to achieve "one-person-one-vote" deviations of the smallest <br /> possible percentage. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Initial Assessment <br /> Page 8 of 9 <br />