AMARILLO, TX -- Much like lawmakers in Austin have been debating new boundary lines for re-districting, Potter County Commissioners are also having to deal with some changing borders.
The latest Census numbers show the districts aren't quite in compliance with Federal guidelines, but the fix may be quick and fairly painless.
Potter County Commissioners met with a representative from Austin during their regular meeting to look at what the County needs to do to make sure they comply with Federal law when it comes to having equal voters in each precinct.
The 2010 Census shows approximately 121,000 people living in Potter County. If you exclude felons at the prison, that number drops to about 115,700. Dividing it all up, each precinct needs about 29,000 voters.
Currently, Precinct 3 has more than 30,000 while precinct one has about 26,700.
"It will be a matter of shifting probably a few blocks is what it will amount to," said Joe Kirkwood, Precinct 3 Commisioner. "The precinct with the greatest growth will hand off to the precinct to the least growth."
It may be as simple as merely shifting a couple thousand voters from precinct three to one and they hope to send if off to the Department of Justice for approval in August and hopefully, have everything on the maps by the end of the year, Kirkwood added.
"Prior to 2012 election, this has to be done. By the end of summer, we should have some re-drawing of the district ready to go to be pre-approved in Washington, and then some back here for final approval."
Monday, Commissioners got the ball rolling by approving the criteria they must meet to keep a balance of voting power and hope to have public meetings on the subject through the summer.
