City redistricting hearings scheduled in January

The City of Big Spring will hold a pair of public hearings this month regarding their 2021 Redistricting Project.

According to a press release issued by the city, the two hearing will be January 11 and January 25, both at 5:30 p.m. Each hearing will be held in the City Council Chambers, 307 E. Fourth Street.

The press release goes on to explain the reason for the redistricting process.

“According to the 2020 United States Census data, the City's single-member districts from which Council members are elected are not of sufficiently equal population and must be redrawn to comply with the 'one-person, one-vote' principle established by the United States Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended in 1975 and 1982,” the release says. “The City Council is considering new boundaries for its single-member districts. The purpose of the public hearing is to discuss potential options for the drawing of those new boundaries in compliance with the law for the Project.”

Local citizens may try their hand at drawing new boundaries for the city's six districts. Criteria for redistricting established by the City Council at its Dec. 8 special meeting include:

1. The plan should ensure that all applicable provisions of the U.S. and Texas Constitutions, the Voting Rights Act, and the Texas Election Code are honored.

2. The plan should be drawn in such a manner that the maximum deviation from an ideal size, as determined by dividing the total population of the city by the number of single member districts that compose the City Council of the City of Big Spring be not more than plus or minus five (5%) percent for any individual single member district, or a total top to bottom deviation (percentage of deviation below and above the ideal size) between the most populated district and the least populated district by not more than a maximum deviation of no more than ten (10%) percent.

3. The plan should address minority representation, and if at all possible, in conformity with constitutional standards, avoid retrogression in the percentage of population and voting age demographics consistent with existing minority representation.

4. The plan should, avoid fragmentation and preserve minority communities of interest to the maximum extent possible. These communities of interest should be recognized and retained intact where possible. Only when the overall