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2011 City Voting WardsYour Source for Updated Ward Information
Jacksonville has new wards that will be in effect for the 2011 Election
Approved Ward Map. Click map for larger view. (Or download a High resolution PDF for detailed view - this may take longer to open)
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Plans suggested by the Jacksonville Redistricting Committee and approved by the Jacksonville City Council have been cleared by the US Justice Department in time for an on-time election for City offices.
Redistricting was required for the City’s wards as a result of new population counts from the US Census. Those counts showed the wards needed adjustment to as a result of how the City grew, how people moved around the City and how the US Census Bureau counted deployed persons.
The result required the City to redraw four wards with equal population. The Jacksonville Redistricting Committee was formed by the City Council to undertake the drawing process. After a public input session in each of the four wards and a City-wide session at City Hall, as well as input from Facebook, the web and email, the Committee devised criteria for the wards. That was used to formulate three plans that were considered by the Committee.
The selected plan closely resembles the current ward map. The City Council held a public hearing and adopted the plan presented by the Committee without alteration May 17. Onslow is one of several counties that fall under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act and a preclearance of the City’s wards was required before they could take effect. The US Justice Department has issued that preclearance allowing the City’s election to proceed in November, pending approval from the State Board of Elections. |
Email questions or comments to the City
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Why Redistrict
When the wards were last adjusted after the 2000 Census, each was nearly equal in population. The new Census numbers reveals that people have moved, the City has expanded and with the decision by the Census to not count deployed persons as residing here, the base population dropped by 5,431 persons. Federal Case law and State law requires the City to review the population of each district after each Census. A key test is the “ten percent rule” which holds if the most populous and least populous ward are together more than 10 percent from the ideal ward, then you must redistrict. A quick look at Jacksonville’s wards determined that each ward was more than 10% from the ideal ward of 17,536.
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Special Wards
Jacksonville has benefited from having two special minority-majority wards which help to leverage minority votes to help provide representation on the City Council. A federally held standard called retrogression holds that changes made to the wards cannot diminish the ability of minorities to be elected.
Who Counts
Everyone. The wards are configured for the ideal population of the City; young, old, voters, non-voters, minorities and everyone. Some wards may have more turnout than others, and some may have greater participation in elections. However, the “one-person, one-vote” clause of the Constitution requires the City to configure the wards to be as equal as possible counting the total population.
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A Citizens’ Committee
Ideas and comments from the public were received by the Jacksonville Redistricting Committee. The Committee was formed by the Jacksonville City Council to enable a Citizen committee to recommend the new wards. No City Council members sit on the committee but some experienced persons who have participated in redistricting and election matters were selected along with some persons who were new to the process. The mixture of experienced and inexperienced persons was hoped to provide guidance when the City goes through this process ten years from now.
Public Input Received
Five separate public input sessions were held by the Committee. One was held in each ward and the fifth was a live, interactive session held at City Hall, broadcast live on the Jacksonville-Onslow Government Television Channel and streamed live to the web. During the sessions there was strong sentiment for the minority-majority ward system, for keeping lines as close to where they are now and to keep neighborhoods together as much as possible.
The Committee Recommendation
After hearing the public comment and asking staff to prepare proposals that would meet criteria adopted by the Committee, the group had significant deliberation before deciding on one proposal. The unanimous vote sends the matter to the City Council for consideration.
The Redistricting Plan
The map is available for view by the public and is located in the Atrium at City Hall, 815 New Bridge Street in downtown Jacksonville.
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