Deadline for voter-district comments set Sept. 6

Sussex County Council districts will have a new look if a redistricting plan proposed at council’s Aug. 22 meeting is approved.

Most changes in the map occurred in districts 1 and 3 where the population shift over the past decade has been most pronounced. District 1 in western Sussex lost residents while District 3 in the Cape Region gained population.

Under the county’s proposed map, because of population changes, District 1 was expanded north to Bridgeville to capture more residents. Bridgeville residents would no longer be part of District 2 under the proposed plan.

To reduce the size of District 3, the northern border was redrawn removing Milford-area residents. Those residents would be added to District 2.

County residents will have another chance to comment on the map prior to a public hearing this fall. The county’s draft map is available at sussexcountyde.gov. The deadline for comments is 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 6. Comments can be sent via email to redistricting@sussexcountyde.gov or mailed to Clerk of Council, PO Box 589, Georgetown, DE 19947.

The draft map was drawn with public input by county attorney Everett Moore; consultant Richard Carter, a lifelong Sussex countian and historian who has 20 years experience in drafting redistricting maps; and intern Ryan Adams, a senior at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va.

Moore will collect council and public feedback and report back to council at its 10 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13 meeting. Following that meeting, the proposed map will be finalized, and an ordinance will be drafted for council introduction. A public hearing on the ordinance will be scheduled this fall.

With an updated county population of more than 197,000 residents, each council district must be within 5 percent of 39,429 residents. Districts can have no fewer than 37,458 residents and no more than 41,401 residents. Moore said the county’s proposed numbers fall closer to a 1 percent population deviation.

Moore said for the first time in history, four of the five council districts have a majority of their constituents east of Route 113. Based on the 2010 census, 56 percent of the county’s population lives east of Route 113.

In addition, each of the five districts would have a slight majority of Democrat voters.

Districts 4 and 5, which were already within the designated population allotments, remain relatively unchanged under the proposed county redistricting plan.

The proposed map does not match a map submitted by the League of Women Voters of Sussex County. The league’s map revamped the western Sussex County districts to place most of District 5, held by Vance Phillips, west of Route 13. District 5 currently stretches from the western to the eastern border of the county.

By law, the county must adjust its council districts following each decennial census to equally distribute the population among the five districts. Based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2010 population results for Delaware, Sussex County’s population increased nearly 26 percent between 2000 and 2010, from 156,638 residents to 197,145 residents.