Colorado began accepting applications in early August for the state’s newly-voter-approved independent redistricting commissions, but the responses have been meager, and so far don’t reflect the state’s demographics, skewing older and representing little of the state’s ethnic minority communities. 

The low number of applicants and the mismatch between commission applicants and the state’s population have raised concern among those monitoring the application process, and with little less than half of the application period remaining, they’re calling for more applicants, especially from the so-far underrepresented demographic groups. That would mean younger applicants and more female, Black, Hispanic and Asian applicants.

• UNCHARTED TERRITORY | The remade redistricting process is already facing some hurdles

As of Sept. 22, the Independent Congressional Redistricting Commission has received 188 applications, and the Independent Legislative Redistricting Commission has received 109 applications, according to a statement released Friday.

Among early notable applicants is former State Senate president Joan Fitz-Gerald, a Democrat. Full listings of applicants for each commission are available at redistricting.colorado.gov.

Redistricting is a once-in-a-decade process that reallocates voting power, based on population data compiled during each decennial census. States can gain or lose congressional districts, based on relative population growth. And congressional and state legislative districts are redrawn to ensure equal representation. In most states, elected state legislators redraw the maps, without much public input or oversight.

But a growing number of states, including Colorado in 2018, have passed reforms that empower independent commissions, made up of citizens who do the work  through public hearings. Colorado will have two commissions, one for congressional maps and one for legislative maps. Each will have 12 commissioners, made up of four Republicans, four Democrats and four unaffiliated registered voters. 

As of mid-September, 286 applicants had submitted their names for the 24 slots on the two redistricting commissions. Of those, 230, or a little more than 80%, are white. Eighteen applicants, or 6%, are Hispanic. And only seven, or 2.5%, are Black. The state is 68% white, 22% Hispanic and 4% Black.

The number of applicants is also a fraction of states with similar application processes. In Michigan, a state with about 70% more residents, there were more than 9,000 applicants, or about 30 times the number of applicants in Colorado so far. In California, there were almost 21,000 applicants.

The applicants so far also skew older than the state’s population, with 129 or almost half of the applicants, over the age of 65, despite that age group comprising only 18% of the voting age population.

Roughly three-quarters of the applicants are men.

But the language added to the constitution by Amendments Y and Z, which were overwhelmingly approved by voters, calls for the commission to mirror Colorado’s demographics.

“Each commission must, to the extent possible, reflect Colorado’s racial, ethnic, gender and geographic diversity,” the 2018 amendments to the state constitution instruct.

Toni Larson, the president of the League of Women Voters of Colorado and a leading advocate for the voter-approved redistricting reforms, said during a Sept. 21 redistricting forum the response has not met expectations: “They are not very diverse.”

Larson used her time during the forum, hosted by Colorado College, to urge more people, especially those from minority communities, to apply for the commissions.

“So please, people who are or consider themselves diverse, please look at the application and consider being on one of the commissions,” Larsen said. 

The new language in the state constitution also requires commissioners to come from all parts of the state, by mandating at least one commissioner on each commission come from each congressional district. There are as few as 24 applicants in Congressional District 7, representing the northeastern part of the Denver metropolitan area, and as many as 58, or 20% of the applicants, from Congressional District 2, which contains Boulder and Fort Collins. 

While the applicants so far don’t reflect the racial, ethnic, gender and, to a lesser extent, the geographic diversity of the state, advocates for the state’s redistricting reforms speaking at the Sept. 21 event emphasized racial and ethnic diversity most. 

Denise Maes, public policy director for the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said it’s crucial for minority groups to have representation on the commission because of the long history of racially discriminatory voting and election practices, which redistricting reforms are intended to combat. The commission will be making decisions that will affect the way people are represented in the state legislature and in Congress, so having commissioners from minority communities can help ensure fair representation for them, she said.

“What we want to see at the ACLU is real true diversity on those redistricting commissions,” she said. 

Colorado residents who have been continuously registered in the state with the same political party for the past five years — whether Republican, Democratic or unaffiliated — are qualified to apply.

The deadline for applications is Nov. 10 and people can read more about the application requirements and apply at redistricting.colorado.gov.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct information from Legislative Council to adjust the number of applicants and correct information in the group’s demographic handout.