- Gadsden County's district lines have not been redrawn since 2003.
- With population changes, neighbors believe they should be redrawn.
- View the video above to see if you will be in a new district.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT
A lot of options, not a lot of time. Two groups presented several re-drawing redistricting ideas to the commission as to what they believe is the best and fair district lines for Gadsden County. With it being an election year, time is running out for a final decision.
The workshop was attended by county commissioners, School Board Members and neighbors in Gadsden County.
Kurt Spitzer from KS&A governmental consultants and Joseph Dye from American civil liberties union presented different redistricting ideas in the workshop.
"If you're a citizen of Gadsden County, these maps will effect who represents you on the school board and who represents you on the county commission."
Right now, the county is divided in to five districts with a population of a little over 43,000 people as of July 1st, 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
On your screen, you will see the different redistricting proposals from both groups.
On December 22nd 2023, a complaint was filed by the republican executive committee and William B. Durham. They're challenging how the districts are drawn now.
The map hasn't been drawn since 2003.
With population growth, some believe it's time for the districts to be redrawn.
According to the court documents, the way the map is drawn, plaintiffs believe it's a violation of their fourteenth amendment right to equal representation under the "one person, one vote" principle of the equal protection clause.
"For a citizen, redistricting is really important to not necessarily understand complexities of it but understand how it affects you."
Gadsden County Commissioners have given themselves until February 8th to figure out what the new district lines could be. With that, came some concerns from neighbors.
One of the concerns came from supervisor of elections Shirley green knight. She believes the school board and county should have the same lines to avoid potential voter confusion.
"Redistricting and getting it right is really important for the citizens of Gadsden County."
As of right now the county will hold another workshop to narrow down their final decisions as said before they gave themselves until February 8th to have a final copy of the new district lines. I'll keep you update as this process continues.
