Today’s study session presentation will provide an overview of the upcoming redistricting process.

By initiative of the people, a Charter provision requiring the establishment of six electoral districts was approved by the voters in 1989.  Each district is represented by a councilmember elected by eligible voters within that respective district.

Pursuant to Federal Law and also City Charter, Article II, Section 2, the districts are required to be substantially equal in population and the City must have the district boundary lines redrawn following each decennial census.  The City Charter further provides that redistricting shall occur following any mid-decennial census in which the City elects to participate.

The Peoria City Council voted on March 17, 2015 to participate in a special mid-decade census and is now required to redistrict prior to the 2018 election cycle. The mid-decade census counted 161,563 residents in Peoria, a 4.87% increase from our 2010 official census population count of 154,058. Although the City strongly believes this was an undercount of our current population (and indeed the Census Bureau now shows an estimated population count for Peoria of 171,237) we are required to redistrict to the official count of the special mid-decade census. Thus, the goal for redistricting will be 6 council districts with a population count of 26,927 each, or as close thereto as practicable (161,563/6).

Although the City Council is ultimately responsible for adopting new council district boundaries, it is our goal to utilize an open and engaged public process to assist Council in this endeavor. A Staff Redistricting Committee has been created to manage the redistricting process and due to Federal legal requirements involving redistricting, has retained Research Advisory Services, a redistricting consulting firm, to assist the Committee.

There are two Federal legal requirements to which any proposed map must comply: (1) districts must have substantially equal population and (2) districts must be in compliance with the Voting Rights Act. Districts also must be contiguous. Additionally, Council can adopt other redistricting criteria to assist in the creation of potential districts; some examples include (1) districts should preserve communities of interest, (2) districts should follow visible natural or man-made boundaries, and (3) districts should minimize voter disruption. Council’s formal adoption of a resolution establishing redistricting criteria will be a valuable tool for the public and staff in the creation of potential district maps.

The City’s original district boundary lines were established in 1990 using the 1985 census data and redistricting was completed again following the 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2010 census.

A supplemental budget request for $100,000 to complete the redistricting process is included in the City Clerk’s Office FY17 budget and will cover all costs of the Redistricting Consultant, translation services and public process.