Spokane County’s redistricting committee is releasing its draft plan for public review Tuesday evening. It’s the latest step in a flurry of activity this fall by the Spokane and Washington state redistricting groups.
Redistricting groups around the country have been held up by the delay in the release of U.S. census data. It compressed the time available for analyzing data.
But the bureau finally got out the localized information needed by county and state redistricting committees earlier this month. Those committees are hurriedly crunching numbers and adjusting boundary lines to equalize the number of people in political districts. Each committee has statutory deadline dates they must meet.
Spokane County’s redistricting committee is required to turn in its final plan to the county auditor by October 23. Tuesday’s release gives the community two months to study the draft plan and offer comments.
Washington’s state redistricting committee will create two sets of maps, one for congressional districts, one for legislative districts. Each of the four commissioners will release their draft versions.
Those will be made public September 21, the congressional maps on September 28. The committee has scheduled public hearings on October 5 and 9 to take comment on the drafts. It has until November 15 to agree on the final political boundaries. The legislature can only make minor changes.