Proposed Congressional Map Released
/The respective chairs of the Missouri House Special Committee on Redistricting and Senate Select Committee on Redistricting jointly released their proposed changes to Missouri’s congressional district map on Thursday, December 30.
According to a press release, the proposed congressional map balances several required criteria including compliance with the Missouri and U.S. Constitutions as well as the Voting Rights Act. The map’s districts are compact, contiguous, and equal in population. The districts adhere to the doctrine of “one person, one vote” and have preserved the cores of each existing congressional district to the greatest extent possible.
“This is a fair and constitutional map with common-sense boundaries that everyday Missourians can recognize,” said Senator Mike Bernskoetter, chair of the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting. “This map, which must be passed by both the House and Senate, is also drawn to achieve the greatest amount of consensus possible. My House counterpart and I chose to make this joint announcement to emphasize the great care that went into drawing a map we were confident could survive legislative, judicial, and public scrutiny.”
According to The Missouri Times writer Cameron Gerber, “The largest change from the current map would be to the 5th congressional district, which would shrink from a four-county area to merely cover Jackson County. Lafayette and Saline counties would be absorbed into the 4th district along with half of Ray County; the rest of Ray County would join the 6th district to the north.”
Both congressional and state legislative districts are redrawn every ten years upon the completion of the census. Missouri’s congressional districts are drawn by state legislators and state legislative districts are drawn by independent, bipartisan, citizen commissions. The 2021 redistricting process has been compressed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and technical delays by the U.S. Census Bureau.
KPGZ News - Brian Watts contributed to this story
