LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Asa Hutchinson has called a meeting of the Arkansas Board of Apportionment Monday morning. Gov. Hutchinson serves as chairman of the board.The board will gather at 10:30 a.m. in the Old Supreme Courtroom to consider the adoption of Arkansas Senate and House districts. The meeting comes after the board proposed maps to the public for an additional 30 days of public comment.
Gov. Hutchinson first gathered the board in May to analyze the incoming 2020 Census data in order to determine districts for the general assembly. The members reconvened in June to hold an executive session to consider and evaluate a redistricting coordinator.
In October, the Board met to consider proposed maps and open them to allow for public comment for 30 days.
To improve the transparency of the Board of Apportionment, a set of interactive proposed house and senate district maps were put on the Board of Apportionment’s website.
The maps allowed the public to input their home address and see street-level detail of the proposed districts. Any comments made were then added to the public record.
About the Process
The Board of Apportionment, consisting of the governor, secretary of state and attorney general, was created in 1936 by Amendment 23 to the Arkansas Constitution. Over the past few months, the board has been redrawing 100 House and 35 Senate districts so that each district meets various legal criteria, including each district being about the same size in population. This redistricting is required by law once every 10 years after the federal census. The Board of Apportionment only “redistricts” the Arkansas House and Senate (legislative seats), not congressional seats – that is the responsibility of the Arkansas General Assembly.
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