NEIGHBORHOOD
The ABC’s of Redistricting Ward Borders To Be Redrawn
D
C Council is gearing up for the start of the often-contentious redistricting process, undertaken by every state (and DC) every ten years. Normally, redistricting begins in April, but a five-month pandemic-related delay in the release of 2020 Census data means the process officially kicked off in September. The US Census Bureau reported that the population for the District of Columbia was 689,545 persons in 2020. The Council has to make sure each of the eight wards will have a roughly equal population, about 86,193 residents, with a permitted deviation of plus or minus 5 percent. That works out to between 81,883 and 90,503 people in each ward. Only three of the eight wards currently have populations outside those limits. Wards 7 and 8, with populations of 76,255 and 78,513 respectively, are slightly below the permitted range. On the other hand, Ward 6 has a population of 108,202. That means the ward lines must be redrawn to place at least 17,699 Ward 6 residents in another ward, without pushing any other ward’s population over 90,503.
The Rules
According to legislation governing the process, in addition to being of relatively equal population, the wards must be “compact and contiguous [touching]” and should conform as much as possible to the boundaries of the US Census tracts. The boundaries must also be in place at least 180 days before the next general election, in November 2022, with ward boundaries to be finalized by the June 2022 primary election.
2 2 M I D CI T Y D C N EWS . C O M
by Elizabeth O’Gorek
