Columbus redistricting commission adopts new map to present council, school board

The work of Columbus’ redistricting commission is done.

With 11 of its 17 members present, the commission redrawing the boundaries of Columbus’ eight council districts voted today to adopt a computer-generated map that brings each district close to the optimum population of 22,740, plus or minus 5 percent.

Now the map goes to Columbus Council, which has the option of adopting the suggested lines or coming up with its own map. The commission hopes the Muscogee school board will approve a map that matches the one council adopts, so the numbered districts match and avoid confusing voters.

District lines must be redrawn every 10 years based on the census to ensure their populations are roughly equal, so no one elected from a district has significantly more or fewer constituents than any district representative. Allowing district populations to remain unbalanced would violate the principle of “one man, one vote,” the idea that no person’s vote should be worth more or less than another’s.

The latest census showed council districts on the north side of town had more than the optimum number of residents and those on the south side had less. As a result, the proposed map stretches districts south-to-north so those southern districts can increase their populations to meet the ideal number.

The optimum number of 22,740 comes from dividing the city’s total of 181,917 residents by eight districts. The 5 percent deviation that’s allowed comes out to 1,137, so a redrawn district can have as few as 21,603 or as many as 23,877.

To meet the requirements of the Voting Rights Act, the new districts cannot dilute minority voting strength, so any changes in district composition by race or ethnicity must be minimal as well.

Legislation the Georgia General Assembly passed this year changes the date of the 2012 local elections. They will be held July 31, rather than during the November general election. In July those representing even-numbered council districts and odd-numbered school board districts will be on the ballot.

For the new district lines to apply by then, the council and school board must adopt redistricting plans by Jan. 31, said elections director Nancy Boren.

This story was originally published September 28, 2011 at 2:26 PM with the headline "Columbus redistricting commission adopts new map to present council, school board."