Arkansas House of Representatives members are scheduled to return to the Capitol Monday to take up congressional redistricting.
The Arkansas legislature reviews congressional districts after every U.S. Census to determine if changes to boundary lines are needed. This once-a-decade review process is called “redistricting.”
Arkansas is divided into four congressional districts. Traditionally, the legislature votes on those new boundaries at the end of a Regular Session. This year, however, there was a delay in the census gathering and release of data.
In April, the 93rd General Assembly voted to take an extended recess until the data became available. The data shows some areas of the state have increased in population more than others. The task now is to redraw the congressional boundaries to ensure they are as equally populated as possible.
Members began filing proposals earlier this month, including one from Rep. Nelda Speaks of Mountain Home.
Under law, the state’s four districts must each hold roughly a quarter of the state’s population and cannot vary in population size by more than 1% from one another.
U.S. Census figures indicate that counties in northwest Arkansas and the Little Rock metro area saw the largest spikes in population from 2010 to 2020, while counties in the Delta reported the sharpest population declines.
In an earlier report, Speaks said she tried to keep her proposal as close to the existing district map as the rise and fall in the state’s population would allow.
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Speaks, a Republican, filed House Bill 1959 on Sept. 9 and was the first legislator to officially file a redistricting proposal.
The Senate and House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committees held two meetings last week to review previously filed proposals.
Last Monday, committee members reviewed three map proposals. On Thursday, members reviewed an additional four proposals.
The committees will meet again on Monday to review the most recently filed proposals. The public is welcome to attend committee meetings and comment on the proposals.
Links to the proposed maps presented last week are available at arkansashouse.org. On the website, links to live streams and recorded videos of previous meetings are available.
As a reminder, the Arkansas Board of Apportionment is responsible for redrawing the state senate and state representative districts. The board consists of the governor, attorney general and secretary of state. More information on that process is available at arkansasredistricting.org.
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