Local Redistricting — The “Right” Way!

Back in February, we posted an article entitled, “Local Redistricting” that described a “work-around” approach to local redistricting on Dave’s Redistricting. Now that we have managed our way through and released a pretty extensive array of new features and data (block level editing, 2020 census shapes, 2019 ACS estimates, community maps, paint by city…), and given feedback from you, we have formally implemented “first-class” Local Redistricting. This means no more large unassigned populations, and you will now see accurate and relevant statistics and analytics.

You can redistrict a county, a city, or any other geographic area (map) that consists of a single district. Another DRA user may have already created that geographic area, or you may first have to do create one.

Redistricting a County, City or Existing Single-District Map

Click New Map and in Map Settings provide a name, select a state, and then select Other for Plan Type.

Next, Click Entire State, and you will see lists of counties, cities and single-district maps for your state. Select the jurisdiction you want to district, and click the Pick button.

Back in Map Settings, District Count defaults to 10, but you can change the count as appropriate. Click Apply.

Your blank maps appears. It is “restricted” to the county you selected. Note in District Selector that the total population equals the population of the jurisdiction (in this case Union County, NJ), and target population for each district is, in this example, total population divided by seven. You are now free to create your seven districts by painting cities, precincts, and/or blocks as you would in the ordinary course.

Creating a New Geographic Area

A second scenario envisions you first having to create a jurisdiction to redistrict. For example, perhaps a school district is composed of a number of small cities or towns, and surrounding unincorporated county areas.

Click New Map and in Map Settings provide a name, select a state, and then select Other for Plan Type. Set District Count to 1 and click Apply.

The blank map appears, and you will notice the total population is the statewide population. Do not fret about that. Simply build your jurisdiction. In this example, the cities of Port Townsend, Port Hadlock/Ironside, and Marrowstone are combined…

… along with the surrounding precincts, into a single district.

With these steps concluded, you have created a new geographic area. You will next redistrict this new geographic area.

Start a new map and in Map Settings provide a name, select the state, and then select Other for Plan Type. Click Entire State, then click Map, and find and select the school district map you just created. Click Pick.

You will see in Map Settings that the map is restricted to School District. Set District Count as appropriate and click Apply.

Your blank maps appears and total population is equal to the population of the three cities and the surrounding precincts. You are now ready to create your districts.

Happy Local Redistricting!

P.S. When you use our Analytics tools, keep in mind that in the context of local redistricting, Splitting becomes somewhat moot.