The House Select Committee on Redistricting met this morning. Proposal legislation was presented. All were laid over until the next meeting to allow the members and public to review the proposals before voting.
An overview of the redistricting process was provided. The redistricting process is mandated by the WV constitution after every census for the Senate and the House of Delegates. Also, this year WV is redistricting congressional districts as WV has lost a congressional seat.
Jurisdictions should be as close to perfect populations as possible for congressional redistricting. For state districts, populations can vary up to 10 percent from largest to smallest if necessary.
Redistricting uses census blocks. A census block smallest reduceable item used in assembling blocks.
Anomalies were found in WV including several counties contain wholly within another census block. A census block encompasses the width of Morgan County preventing it from being split into north and south districts. Therefore should the county be spilt, it must be split into east and west districts.
Six proposed congressional maps are splitting the state into two districts. Proposal #1 splits the state into a northern district and a southern district. District 1 (northern) has 898,666 people and District 2 (southern) has 895,050 people. Proposal #2 splits the state into a western district and an eastern district. District 1 (western) has 896,848 people and District 2 (eastern) has 896,868 people.
Proposal #3 splits the state into a northeastern district and a southwestern district. District 1 (northeastern) has 897,082 people and District 2 (southwestern) has 896,634 people. Proposal #4 splits the state into a northern district and a district that stretches from the southern counties to the eastern panhandle. District 1 has 896,314people and District 2 has 897,402 people.
Proposal #5 splits the state into a northeastern district and a southwestern district. District 1 has 896,882 people and District 2 has 896,834 people. Proposal #6 splits the state into a northern district and a southern district. District 1 has 897,649 people and District 2 896,067 people.
House of Delegate Map Proposal changes the current district into 100 Single Member Districts. The proposed map works to keep counties and municipalities together when requested. Occasionally, the opposite was requested, which is also reflected in the proposal. The map offers a different numbering system. District 1 starts at McDowell County and ends with the northern panhandle at 100.
The committee is adjourned at the will of the chair.
