Did you know the City of Austin is redrawing its 10 council districts? The first draft maps will be released this week, and the entire process will be completed over the next two months. Your district’s boundaries may ultimately change, and you may even discover you’re represented by a different city council member.
The U.S. Constitution requires the redrawing of all electoral maps every 10 years, after new Census data has been released. Here in Austin, the redistricting process is handled by an Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (ICRC) composed of 14 independent citizens, rather than elected officials.
The ICRC needs your input to help ensure the new districts are drawn fairly and don’t inadvertently divide neighborhoods and other communities with shared interests. A series of public hearings on the draft maps will begin on September 8. We encourage all Austin residents to attend and provide feedback!
An online hearing is being scheduled for Austinites who would prefer to attend remotely, though its details have yet to be finalized. Here’s a list of the hearings scheduled to date:
Web Address TBD
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
The ICRC’s commissioners are selected impartially and screened for conflicts of interest. Under Austin’s charter, their first priority when drawing maps is to protect the voting rights of historical minorities by complying with the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act. After ensuring historical minorities are fairly represented, commissioners are required to consider and protect the geographic integrity of local neighborhoods and communities of interest. They are prohibited from considering partisanship or political gain.
The ICRC must approve the final maps by November 1, giving residents a very short time frame to review and provide input to the commission on the new districts.
The commissioners are working hard on the maps, but they may not be familiar with your area of Austin or the communities of interest in and around your neighborhood. That’s why your personal input is so important.
Please get involved, and help protect your neighborhood and community!