Title
HEARING - El Dorado County Surveyor, Registrar of Voters, County Counsel, and the Chief Administrative Office providing a Public Workshop on the 2021 Redistricting Process (Redistricting Public Hearing #2).
Body
The United States Constitution requires a count every ten (10) years of everyone residing in the United States. Census data is used for geographically defining state legislative districts in the year following a census. At the conclusion of each United States of America Census process, the County must conduct a process to analyze population data in order to redraw district boundaries to ensure that districts are substantially equal in population as required by the United States Constitution and in compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.
In doing so, the County must consider the following factors in order of priority:
1. Geographic contiguity
2. Geographic integrity of any local neighborhood or local communities of interest.
3. Geographic integrity of any cities or census-designated places.
4. Easily identifiable and understandable districts bound by natural and artificial barriers, including streets and boundaries of the county when practicable.
5. Encouraging geographical compactness so that nearby areas of population are not bypassed in favor of more distant populations.
The Elections Code also specifies that the Board shall not adopt supervisorial district boundaries for the purpose of favoring or discriminating against a political party. Additional criteria can be considered, as long as they are not in conflict with or outweigh the criteria required by the State and Federal laws. In order to meet these requirements, the County undergoes a process to redistrict following the conclusion of each Census. Before adopting new Boundaries, the Board must hold at least four public hearings or public workshops at which the public can provide input on the composition of the Districts.
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