UACES Facebook Redistricting in Arkansas: Legislators File Maps To Divvy Up Arkansas Congressional Districts
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Redistricting in Arkansas: Legislators File Maps To Divvy Up Arkansas Congressional Districts

by Kristin Higgins - September 22, 2021

A series of circles describing the levels of redistricting, from city council to United States HouseArkansas legislators are expected back into session Sept. 29 in part to discuss how to redivide the state’s four U.S. House of Representative districts now that more 2020 Census data is available.

State senators and representatives are tasked with redistricting congressional seats while the governor, attorney general and secretary state as the Board of Apportionment are responsible for determining districts for the state legislature.

Congressional boundaries will have to shift to accommodate for population gains and losses across the state. State officials say they need to work toward 753,439 people in each of the four districts.

To accomplish this goal, there are people living in the Third District today who won't be at this time next year. Several of the proposals already submitted by legislators would change which counties are included in the Third District, which needs to shed about 51,000 people to another district.

As of 11 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 6, Arkansas representatives and senators had filed a combined 33 proposed maps to consider. They are:

House Bill Senate Bill
HB1959 by Rep. Speaks  SB720 by Sen. Johnson
HB1960 by Rep. Ladyman SB721 by Sen. Hester
HB1961 by Rep. Whitaker SB722 by Sen. Clark
HB1962 by Rep. Murdock SB723 by Sen. Clark
HB1963 by Rep. Dotson SB724 by Sen. Leding
HB1964 by Rep. Ray SB725 by Sen. Davis
HB1965 by Rep. Flowers SB726 by Sen. Davis
HB1966 by Rep. Meeks SB727 by Sen. Tucker
HB1968 by Rep. Whitaker SB728 by Sen. Elliott
HB1969 by Rep. Gonzales SB729 by Sen. Johnson
HB1970 by Rep. Dotson SB741 by Sen. Gilmore
HB1971 by Rep. Speaks SB742 by Sen. English
HB1976 by Rep. Speaks SB743 by Sen. English
HB1978 by Rep. Love SB74 by Sen. Irvin
HB1979 by Rep. Dotson  
HB1980 by Rep. Flowers  
HB1981 by Rep. Dotson  
HB1982 by Rep. Speaks  
HB1983 by Rep. Payton  

At the state Capitol, the House and Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs committees review proposed congressional maps. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has a graphic showing what the filed proposals look like.

State-Level Redistricting Efforts

The Board of Apportionment held a series of public meetings over the summer to get a sense of the public’s thoughts on how to accommodate massive growth in Northwest Arkansas and a population decline to the south and east. You can watch those meetings here: https://arkansasredistricting.org/events-calendar/ 

Have an opinion about how the districts should be drawn for Arkansas House and Senate seats? Public comment is now being taken online.

Local-Level Redistricting Efforts

The boundaries for the person who represents you in all levels of government may change depending on whether your community grew in Census population or lost.  

Join us 10 a.m., Sept. 29 on Zoom to learn what “redistricting” looks like at the YOU level.

Local officials will share what the redistricting process looks like and how you can get involved or follow along with proposed changes.

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