In a 3-1 vote on Tuesday, Oct. 26, Liberty County commissioners approved the new map for the county’s four road and bridge precincts.
The biggest changes are that Hull and Daisetta will now be part of Pct. 1, Cleveland will be split among two commissioners and a section on the far southwest side of the county near the upcoming River Ranch community will also be part of Pct. 1. Pct. 2 remains the biggest precinct as it is more rural and less-populated than the other three precincts.
Working with the law firm of Bickerstaff Heath Delgado Acosta LLP, county commissioners held workshops in recent weeks where they hashed out ideas for the precinct boundaries. While some of these negotiations were heated, they continued working through the process until they came up with a final map that met with the approval of Pct. 1 Commissioner Bruce Karbowski, Pct. 2 Commissioner Greg Arthur and Pct. 4 Commissioner Leon Wilson. Pct. 3 Commissioner David Whitmire, whose precinct’s land mass is shrinking considerably as his total population has grown, was the only dissenting vote.
Redistricting is required every 10 years to ensure there is equal voter representation in each precinct. With Liberty County’s population at 86,994, the goal for commissioners was to create precincts with roughly 21,749 residents. While some may argue that the county’s population is much higher than reported, it is the Census numbers on which redistricting must be based.
Future or projected growth, and prison populations cannot be factored in. Minority populations also cannot be split to fracture their voting power.
Before the redistricting map is adopted, a public hearing will be held on Nov. 2.
To get a close-up view of the precinct boundaries, click here: https://bluebonnetnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Final.pdf
When expanding the map in question, it becomes too blurry to read.