Ward-Based Election System

The Transition Process

Community input and 2020 census data was used to determine how wards should be drawn.   To assist with the transition, the District hired Lapkoff & Gobalet Demographic Research, Inc. (Lapkoff and Gobalet), a firm that specializes in drawing election ward boundaries for jurisdictions, also known as “districting.”

Many factors may be considered in developing the wards and draft maps.  Population equality is of primary importance, followed by the Federal Voting Rights Act’s prohibition of voting practices and procedures that discriminate on the basis of race, color or membership in a language minority group. Additionally, other factors include:

• Topography: natural barriers, boundaries or landmarks
• Geography: major streets and neighborhood blocks
• Cohesiveness: contiguity, integrity and compactness of the area
• Communities of Interest: established neighborhoods, racial and social demographics, groups with cultural bonds, common issues or concerns, voting precincts and other types of divisions. 

The District emphasized public input throughout the transition process.  The District conducted five duly noticed public hearings over two phases to review the process of converting to a ward-based election system, receive input from the public on communities of interest within the District’s service area, and review and receive public input on draft voting district ward maps:

Phase 1: Community Input

On October 14, 2021, and October 28, 2021, the District conducted duly noticed public hearings to describe the transition process and solicit public input on communities of interest and other factors that should be considered in the development of draft voting district ward maps.  Lapkoff and Gobalet considered such input, together with the most current federal census data, in the development of five draft voting district ward maps which were published and posted on the District’s website on January 3, 2022.

Phase 2: Voting District Ward Mapping

On January 13, 2022, the District conducted a third duly noticed public hearing to present the five draft voting district ward maps and receive input from the public and from the Board.  Based on input received during this public hearing, two of the draft maps (Plan numbers 4 and 5) were removed from further consideration.

On February 17, 2022, the District conducted a fourth duly noticed public hearing to present the three remaining draft voting district ward maps and receive further input from the public and from the Board.  At this public hearing, Lapkoff and Gobalet provided additional details regarding the differences among the three draft maps, and the sequence of elections was discussed.

On March 10, 2022, the District conducted a fifth duly noticed public hearing to present the remaining draft voting district ward maps, including the potential boundaries of the five proposed wards, for public input regarding configuration of the wards and communities of interest to assist in selecting the final voting district ward map, as well as the final sequence of elections.  Following the public hearing, the Board adopted an ordinance establishing a final voting district ward map (Plan 3 ) and sequence of elections. The adopted sequence of elections is as follows:

• Voters in wards 2 and 3 elect their representatives every four years beginning in November 2022.  
• Voters in wards 1, 4, and 5 elect their representatives every four years beginning in November 2024.