The Custer County Board of Commissioners discussed mandatory redistricting the county due to the recently released Census data during their meeting Monday morning.
District 1 Commissioner Wade Anders brought several maps for the commissioners to consider, but no action was taken at this time.
Custer County has a little more than 28,000 resident, meaning each district should have roughly 9,500 residents with a 5-percent margin – negative or positive – for differentiation. This would give Weatherford voters more opportuniy to vote for two different communities.
With the new census numbers, District 1 is 1.93 below the 9,500 goal, District 2 is 10.5 percent above and District 3 is 8.63 percent in the negative.
This is due to the county population moving eastward. While the commissioners have several suggested maps for the division, they also will be consulting with the Custer County Election Board to ensure many citizens have a reasonably close polling place.
Another issue to consider is the commissioners have to live within the districts they are serving. They also want to ensure their district shops remain within the district.
While the district lines will shift, the commissioners will continue to divide the road work equally.
Further decision and discussion regarding the district lines will be made once members of the board consult the county election board.