Supervisors begin Washington County redistricting process

The redistricting process in Washington County is about to get underway.

The Board of Supervisors held a work session Tuesday to discuss the process.

County Auditor Dan Widmer explained that, according to state law, a Redistricting Commission needs to be appointed.

“The redistricting board can have three, five or seven members,” Widmer said.

Because all five supervisors are Republicans, they will appoint the majority of the commission members — two on a three-member commission, three on a five-member commission or four on a seven-member commission.

“Typically, the minority party on the Board of Supervisors would pick the minority members,” Widmer said. “In this case, the chair of the county Democrats appoints the minority members.”

Kimberly Davis, who ran unsuccessfully against State Rep. Jarad Klein in the 2020 election, is the current chair of the Washington County Democrats.

“There’s only like three Democrats in the whole county, so it shouldn’t be that hard,” Supervisor Marcus Fedler joked.

Widmer said that his recommendation would be to have a five-member commission, noting that there are five supervisor districts in the county.

“Three members may not be enough to have good representation across the county,” he said.

Supervisor Jack Seward Jr. said that he believed the job could be done by a three-member commission because the rules are clear about how districts should be drawn.

He said that districts need to be as compact as possible and have boundaries that can be identified.

Both board Chairman Richard Young and Supervisor Bob Yoder expressed a preference for a five-member commission.

Supervisors will make their commission selections official at their May 11 meeting.

Widmer said that he would reach out to Davis to get the Democrat appointments.

Once appointed, the commission must wait for the Legislature to complete redrawing state House and Senate districts and cities to set their districts based on census data.

In August, the commission will begin redrawing the county’s districts based on guidelines given by the state at that time.

Publication of the new district borders and polling places must occur three times by Oct. 9.

The new districts will become effective on Jan. 15, 2022.