Maps and figures displayed Tuesday night at a public meeting organized by the Arkansas Board of Apportionment (ABA) show the Twin Lakes Area caught between exploding populations in northwest Arkansas and the Little Rock metro area and cratering populations in the Delta and southern Arkansas.
The ABA consists of the governor, attorney general and secretary of state and is charged with redrawing the district maps for the state’s House of Representatives and Senate. The redrawing is a once-a-decade process tied to population numbers collected by the U.S. Census.
Tuesday night’s meeting at the Vada Sheid Community Development Center was the second of eight public meetings scheduled around the state to answer public questions about the process and solicit public comments from the community. The meeting was attended by about 50 people, including state Rep. Jack Fortner of Yellville, several Baxter County elected officials and at least three area mayors.
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Fairness goal, redistricting coordinator says
Panel hears Arkansans’ suggestions, complaints about Senate districts
by
Stephen Simpson
|
Today at 3:21 a.m.
Representatives of the Arkansas Board of Apportionment, in their second redistricting hearing, heard Tuesday evening from several audience members who sought changes to area Senate districts.
Betty Dickey, coordinator of the Board of Apportionment and former Arkansas Supreme Court chief justice, told those who attended the hearing held at Arkansas State University in Mountain Home the goal of the committee is to avoid gerrymandering, targeting and preferential treatment of one party or the other. Our goal is to follow the criteria that we are operating under, she said after a comment about redrawing state legislative districts into more sensible shapes. The board s job is to redraw legislative districts every 10 years, using federal census data to ensure each district has roughly the same population.