Harris County begins preliminary redistricting discussions, seeks public input

The recently released 2020 U.S. census information revealed not solely had Harris County’s inhabitants grown to 4.7 million, however that the inhabitants distribution among the many county’s 4 commissioner precincts had shifted within the final decade.

When the maps have been final redrawn in 2011, every precinct had barely greater than 1 million residents as a result of the county’s total inhabitants was about 4.1 million.

Matt Angle, the county’s mapping advisor, mentioned on the Aug. 31 assembly that primarily based on the 2020 census, every precinct ought to have 1.18 million residents. The U.S. Structure prohibits a deviation of greater than 10% from that focus on quantity. See a breakdown of every precinct’s inhabitants in comparison with the perfect district measurement under:

Officers mentioned along with bodily locations equivalent to streets, our bodies of water, railroad tracks and highways that act as pure boundaries between communities, different features equivalent to language, tradition and political affiliation of native communities will probably be thought-about all through the redistricting course of.

Liz Allen, a consultant with the Pure Justice Group, mentioned she needs to verify residents’ voices are heard as the selections made will have an effect on them for the subsequent decade.

“We have to be concerned within the course of as a result of the redistricting will impression the allocation of assets and companies in addition to the political agenda and political illustration, thereby figuring out who will get elected to workplace,” she mentioned.

Harris County Decide Lina Hidalgo emphasised the general public may have a number of alternatives to share their ideas and recommend potential boundary modifications at upcoming redistricting conferences.

“The enter from the general public is especially vital as a result of it helps us establish communities that want to remain collectively, whether or not it’s communities that worship collectively, communities that produce other issues in frequent—industrial facilities, shared colleges, shared languages, a shared tradition, neighborhood,” Hidalgo mentioned. “The enter of all people who speaks at these conferences will assist us decide how we greatest make it possible for the boundaries which can be drawn don’t divide communities.”

Study extra about Harris County’s redistricting course of and submit suggestions at http://cao.harriscountytx.gov/commissioner-precinct-redistricting.