REDISTRICTING
the boundaries of the county’s three election districts and possibly adjust them. The districts are used for both the commissioners and school board races.
The committee was comprised of nine individuals — one appointed by each county commissioner, one appointment each from the Democratic and Republican central committees, an appointment from the NAACP and one from the League of Women Voters.
Parran stated the committee considered the current population figures for districts — 28,623 for the first district, 32,449 for District 2 and 31,698 for the third — along with four proposed reconfigurations.
“We decided to use the total population” in making the decision, as opposed to only factoring in registered voters, Parran explained.
County law required that a deviation in population among the election districts be no more than 10%. The current configuration meets that mandate.
The majority of committee members settled on “Proposal 3,” which makes District 1’s population 30,253, District 2’s total 31,158 and the District 3 population 31,359.
Proposal 3, said Parran, had the “least deviation” of the five plans. “The gap is not as wide,” he said.
The shifting of people from one election district to another will change the precincts and voting locations for those impacted.
Commissioner Kelly D. McConkey (R) asked if Proposal 3 “causes the least impact.”
Parran stated that Proposal 3 was second only to the current plan since leaving the map alone would have had no impact.
Gail Hatfield, the county’s election administrator, told the board “almost 40,000 voters are going to have to be notified one way or another” about a change in their voting location due to state and county district changes. New voter identification cards will be issued prior to the primary.
“There’s going to be an increase in cost,” Mark Willis, county administrator stated. “It’s not going to be a huge cost to county taxpayers.”
Parran reported the committee did discuss the unique manner Calvert employs to choose a board president. The commissioners annually elect the president, as opposed to some counties — including Charles and St. Mary’s — where the voters elect a board president.
“We talked about it and decided to leave it the way it is,” Parran said.
While there was a call from the Calvert County Democratic Central Committee to create five election districts, Parran said there was no consideration given to the proposal since “that requires legislation in Annapolis.”
Commissioner President Earl F. “Buddy” Hance (R) called the redistricting committee’s work “an open, transparent process.”
The committee’s recommendation was approved unanimously.
“It will impact the next three elections,” Hance declared.