Editor's Note: This article was inadvertently truncated in today's News Tribune e-Edition and print edition and will be republished for those readers. It is available in its entirety below.
While the 2020 Census data showed a population increase of just less than 200 in Jefferson City, city officials are uncertain how the change will affect ward lines as well as how those boundaries could be redrawn.
Staff is still processing raw block-by-block Census data, which means the wards' boundaries might need to be redrawn to keep their sizes equal and maintain neighborhoods and historic boundaries.
Planning and Protective Services Director Sonny Sanders said the history of ward redistricting in Jefferson City is mixed.
In 1980 and 1990, he said, officials compiled a bi-partisan advisory committee to lead the redrawing. But in 2000 and 2010, city staff lead the efforts and presented the council with options, one of which was selected before hosting open houses. Council members heard the feedback and held their own hearing before passing the new ward lines.
If the city does pursue redistricting, Sanders said, he would likely recommend the more recent process because council elections are no longer partisan.
"I would think looking at what we did most recently would be something that staff would probably recommend we do in the future," Sanders said.
Sanders said the process is being squeezed on both sides this time.
"The one thing that kind of complicates that is that we're really getting squeezed here," he said. "This is coming out later than it traditionally does. But we're not only getting squeezed on the front end, but the General Assembly and the forces that be are squeezing us on the back end by moving up the candidate filing date by an additional week."
Filing for the next council election, which has one open seat for each ward, starts Dec. 7. The election will be April 5, 2022.
Ward lines need to be established by the start of filing so potential candidates know which ward position they're seeking.
Sanders said he'll be able to advise the council about whether to redraw the ward boundary lines by the Sept. 7 council meeting. Officials would have about two months to go through the process since he would like to present the new map for approval at the first November meeting.
Should the council decide to redraw the lines, he said, there's certain criteria that needs met. These include: ensuring population equality between the wards, retention of existing neighborhood and precinct boundaries, a desire to retain historic boundaries, cohesion of existing communities of interest and consideration of incumbency.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 also means the city cannot dilute the voting power of minority groups.
The city's ward-by-ward Census data will be presented at the Sept. 7 City Council meeting.