Henry Daily Herald

Special Photo: The U.S. Department of Justice, recently, approved new districts for the Henry County Board of Commissioners. The districts were redrawn following results from the 2010 Census.

Federal authorities have signed off on recently drawn voting districts for Henry County.

The new district map for the Henry County Board of Commissioners was approved by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the county announced on Friday.

“The new maps will officially take effect in January 2013,” said county spokesperson, Julie Hoover-Ernst. “However, the redrawn lines will impact the local elections to take place this year in July [primary election] and [in] November [general election], when voters will cast their ballots for representatives of these redrawn districts.”

The redistricting process began in 2011, with assistance from Linda Meggers, a consultant with more than 20 years of redistricting experience. The approved map, Hoover-Ernst said, was prepared by the state’s Legislative and Congressional Reapportionment Office. “The previous map had to be revised, due to the results of the 2010 Census, which showed that the county’s population had increased by approximately 70 percent over the last 10 years, from 119,000 in 2000, to more than 203,000 in 2010,” the county spokesperson said.

“The explosive growth yielded a disparity in population across the districts, ranging from 50,849 people living in District II, to just 32,266 living in District IV. As a result, the 2001 map no longer met the ‘one person, one vote’ principle under the U.S. Constitution, which requires electoral bodies to have substantially equal districts with no more than 10 percent deviation.”

Redistricting is mandated by the federal government, Henry County Commission Chairman Elizabeth “B.J.” Mathis said in August of 2011. “There’s been such a large shift in the population,” she said. “Each district must have a balance of about 40,000 citizens per district.”

Hoover-Ernst added that, under the county’s new map, districts deviate no more than 1.13 percent.

The redrawn districts, last year, met heated opposition from some area residents who maintained the changes would weaken the voting power of minorities. Hoover-Ernst, on Friday, said the map was submitted to the DOJ pursuant to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and is in compliance with laws contained in that legislation.

She said the new map also keeps voting districts whole where possible, thereby minimizing the number of voting precincts which must have more than one ballot.

“The Board worked jointly with the Henry County Board of Education to develop the 2011 Redistricting Plan, which, once again, helps minimize voter confusion by creating identical elective districts for both the Board of Commissioners and the Board of Education,” she said. “However, the Board of Education has not received confirmation from the U.S. Department of Justice, regarding its map.”

To view the approved map, visit www.henrycounty-ga.org.