Courtesy photo.
The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC) recently adopted draft maps of legislative and congressional districts that Arizonans will use to elect candidates for the next 10 years.
The adopted maps, Congressional District Map 7.1 and Legislative District Map 10.0, will affect how Northern Arizonans elect candidates and choose representation before Congress and the State Legislature. The Legislative Maps split Northern Arizona between three proposed legislative districts: Legislative District 5, 6, and 7. The three proposed Legislative Districts split Flagstaff and Sedona.
The Coconino County Board of Supervisors has remained engaged on the AIRC’s work in adopting new legislative and congressional district maps for Northern Arizona. Members of the Board of Supervisors submitted comments during the Commission’s Public Listening Tours. Northern Arizonans and their representatives also submitted comments to the Commission. In those public comments to the Commission, Northern Arizonans asked the Commission to:
- Keep cities whole, specifically the City of Flagstaff and the City of Sedona.
- Keep communities of interest whole – specifically in relationship to our workforce, watershed, natural resources, and ranching communities; to adhere to the requirement of Proposition 106 to establish competitive districts to the largest extent possible.
- Keep the Verde Valley communities whole as a community of interest, and with Flagstaff, which is reflective of most of the testimony for this area.
- Allow for Native American and Hispanic communities to elect candidates of their choice, while respecting the voting age population they have held in the past, establishing a minority/majority district reflective of the large American Indian population in northern Arizona.
Considering these comments from the community, the proposed draft maps do not reflect the Commission’s mandate. The Coconino County Board of Supervisors acted to propose an alternative map for the proposed Legislative Districts 5, 6 and 7, and submitted a letter along with new proposed draft maps for Legislative District 6 and Legislative District 7 during their October 26, 2021 meeting. The Board contends these maps better reflect the constitutional mandates of Proposition 106 that require drawing competitive districts to the extent practicable and to maintain communities of interest. The Board also believes these maps better reflect the public input from Northern Arizona.
The AIRC’s final draft maps, however, are not yet the final maps adopted by the AIRC. There’s still a 30-day comment period. Commissioners from the AIRC will accept public comment during a Virtual Town Hall, Saturday, Nov. 6, starting at 10 a.m. until all comments are heard. Participants must be registered by 9 a.m. on the day of the event to speak; register at register to speak. A Spanish language interpreter and a sign language interpreter will be available to assist people who would like to participate.
To view and participate in the meeting via WebEx, please click here.
To view the meeting via YouTube, please click here.