Redistricting board selects final district map
Following weeks of discussions, endless meetings, and a tour across the state, members of Alaska’s redistricting board have selected a final map to represent the 40 districts in the state of Alaska for the next decade. The redrawing of the districts followed the 2020 Census.
The process for selecting the map has been a difficult one, with sometimes tense exchanges between members and ongoing discussions regarding senate pairings.
The approved map is almost identical to the board-proposed map v.4, one of two maps the board developed early in the redistricting process. District 39, which contains Nome and most of the Bering Strait coastal communities, are identical in both board-proposed maps. The finalized district, too, is very similar to the existing region, and stretches along the coast from Shishmaref down to Hooper Bay, including Diomede and St. Lawrence Island. The approved district map does not contain any interior villages, but does incorporate lower Yukon communities, including Hooper Bay, Scammon Bay and Russian Mission.
The Alaska Constitution has very specific guidelines for drawing district maps and dictates that “each house district shall be formed of contiguous and compact territory containing as nearly as practicable a relatively integrated socio-economic area.” The constitution dictates each of the 40 districts should be similar in population. This year, the board attempted to keep each district as close to 18,335 Alaskans as possible.
The redistricting board reviewed six proposed maps, including the two board-drawn options, before voting on the final map late last week. The board approved the state district map in a 4-1 vote, with member Bethany Marcum dissenting.
The board still had several tasks to complete prior to the adoption of a Final Proclamation of Redistricting on Tuesday afternoon, though the final plan is due Wednesday, November 10.