Want a say in how Merced city officials redraw electoral districts? Here’s your chance

As voting district lines are being redrawn, City of Merced officials are asking residents to participate in the process to help determine how local electoral districts will be mapped out for the next decade.

The next Merced Redistricting Advisory Committee workshop will be held in the Council Chambers at the Merced Civic Center on Wednesday, Dec. 1 at 6 p.m.

Cities, counties and states across the country redraw electoral district lines every 10 years, after the release of the latest U.S. Census data.

Redistricting helps local and state governments decide how to allocate resources across their jurisdictions, which affects who voters see on their election ballots and ensures each district is represented fairly in elections.

The city started conducting redistricting workshops in recent weeks to gather public input about how the city’s districts should be redrawn.

“We have a commission, so they’re going to do the work, look at the census data and make recommendations that the City Council will vote on,” Mayor Matthew Serratto previously told the Sun-Star.

Redistricting is a crucial part of the democratic process because it reflects the changing demographics of a city or county over a decade, and it hasn’t come without its hiccups in Merced in the last few years.

The city first drew electoral district lines six years ago after accusations that the city’s Latino residents weren’t fairly represented on the City Council.

A lawsuit filed by the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund pushed the city towards an electoral map that divided the city into six districts, with much of the city’s most impoverished neighborhoods residing in the south of Merced in two districts.

One district included the Merced Municipal Airport, while the other included those who live east of Highway 99 and south of Highway 140.

This year, the U.S. Census Bureau reports that the population of Merced County went up by 9.9% over its 2010 level, bringing the total population of the county to 281,202.

The population of the city of Merced is 86,681. Divided by six districts, that amounts to about 14,447 people in each district — helping city officials to keep roughly the same amount of people in each districts.

Those who want to participate in the redistricting process can draw their own maps for how they think the city’s electoral districts should be drawn.

Esri’s ArcGIS tool is one way to create a district map or use Davesredistricting.com, a website that allows residents of a city to draw their own map. Maps drawn on paper are welcome, as well.

“Whether you use the powerful (but complicated) online mapping tool, Excel, the paper kit or just draw on a napkin, we welcome your maps,” reads a committee presentation for the Dec. 1 meeting.

The Merced Civic Center is located at 678 W. 18th St. near downtown Merced.