On Tuesday, Longmont City Council will consider staff recommendations to update ward boundaries as required every 10 years by city charter.
Longmont is geographically divided into three election wards, which is reviewed at least every 10 years to ensure that each ward has approximately the same number of residents. Voters from each ward elect one city council member.
The proposed map would shift three precincts to Ward Three, the northwest segment of Longmont, to better balance populations. The precincts to be shifted to Ward Three include the northwestern corner of Ward One and the two northernmost precincts of Ward Two.
In a memo to council, staff said that the main challenge of this redistricting has been finding a way to balance both voters and population.
“... The City’s Charter requires that wards are balanced by the number of electors whereas the Supreme Court has upheld balancing of districts by population,” the memo said.
The memo added that there was limited feedback from the public and what feedback staff did receive was supportive of the final draft map. Staff recommended the council pass the ordinance adopting the final boundary map.
