Skip to content

County council adopts redistricting ordinance

March 2, 2022

County council adopts redistricting ordinance

Chesterfield County today unanimously adopted the new county redistricting ordinance, which will be used for the first time in the June 14 primary. Council’s decision followed two public hearings on the issue.

The ordinance is based on the 2020 federal decennial census and is in accordance with the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 that was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. That act, which has since been amended five times to expand its protections, is designed to enforce the voting rights guaranteed by the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which were adopted in 1868 and 1870, respectively. These voting rights prohibit race, creed, color, national origin and gender as bars to voting.

The 2020 census population of Chesterfield County is 43,273, which is a seven percent decrease from the 2010 federal count of 46,273. The county has nine single-member districts, which are apportioned for both county council and school board representation. Each district is required by federal law to be one-ninth of the total county population with no more than a 5 percent deviation. However, Kevin Thurman, the director of the County Voter Registration and Elections office, prepared the new redistricting with an average deviation of just 2 percent.

The county population of 43,273 divided by nine equals 4,808, meaning the total population of each of the nine districts must be within five percent of 4,808. Listed below are the nine districts with their total population and the deviation percentages.

District 1: 4,966/3.286 percent; District 2: 4,811/.062 percent; District 3: 4,740/-1.414 percent; District 4: 4,700/-2.246; District 5: 4,912/2.163 percent; District 6: 4,983/3.64 percent; District 7/4,962/-2.413 percent; District 8: 4,760/-0.998 percent; and District 9: 4,709/-2.059 percent.

Both the new and old redistricting maps will be posted online by the end of the week at www.chesterfieldcountysc.com.

Leave a Comment