IRC Meeting Notes 09-14-21 and Grid Maps, courtesy of Sharon Edgar, Coconino County Dems.
- The IRC adopted grid maps on Tuesday. (Scroll down to see the congressional and legislative grid maps.)
- There will be public hearings on the grid maps. More information is at this link: Public Hearing Schedule 1st Grid maps
- September 21: Mesa, Yuma, Window Rock
- September 23: Scottsdale, Casa Grande, Sierra Vista
- September 25: Phoenix, Prescott
- September 29: Scottsdale, Tucson
- October 7: Surprise, Flagstaff, San Luis, Kayenta
- The public review period for grid maps is 9/15/21 – 10/8/21 and the Commission expects the public to submit a lot of changes. To quote Doug Johnson of National Demographics Corporation, the grid maps are “drawn to be hated.” The purpose of the grid maps is start redistricting from a clean slate. Grid maps show compact and contiguous districts of equal population, but they do not incorporate tribal boundaries, Voting Rights Act (VRA) requirements, Communities of Interest, city/town boundaries, geographic features, or political competitiveness.
- A new website called “The Hub” was launched on September 13th. The Commission is encouraging the public to use the online Redistricting System in The Hub to draw and submit maps. This software is NOT user-friendly and Timmons, the mapping consultants, will NOT be providing end-user support. Also, it is not intended to submit just one district map. In order to submit a map, it has to be a statewide map with population-balanced districts. They said we could move neighborhoods/towns to force equal populations and attach a note saying to ignore the changes we made except to district X. Personally, I am not confident that will be an effective way of influencing the Commission.
If you would like to express your concerns, here’s a 24/7 link to make public comments: https://irc.az.gov/contact-us. Here are the 2021 congressional and legislative grid maps: Proposed Congressional Districts:
Proposed Legislative Districts
Propsosed Legislative Districts, Maricopa County
The next regularly scheduled meeting is Tuesday, September 21st.
|
