This week, the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a plan to update voting precincts across the county. In some cases, new precincts were created. The changes were made primarily to account for population growth.
“These precincts were last updated in 2012, and Maricopa County has grown a lot since then” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Denny Barney, District 1. “I think we did things the right way. We listened to stakeholders, and we made only the adjustments that we believe are necessary to accommodate our changing communities.”
Many of the adjustments this time around came in Districts 1 and 2 in the fast-growing East Valley.
“It’s important for everyone to realize that updating precincts is not a new thing,” said Vice Chairman Steve Chucri, District 2. “We took great care to make sure that on the final version of this map, any changes were made as a result of population growth or confusing ballots along city borders.”
The redistricting process began earlier this year with a proposal from the County Recorder’s Office.
“Our precinct committee members and constituents provided valuable input and feedback that we incorporated into the final map,” said Supervisor Bill Gates, District 3. “I thank the community for their involvement in this process and look forward to discussing re-precincting again after the 2020 census.”
Not every district is seeing changes.
“We didn’t make any adjustments in my district because there’s a large senior population. They were very clear that they like things the way they are. And we were able to accommodate that,” said Supervisor Clint Hickman, District 4.
You can see the updated precinct map here.
The board did not vote on proposed changes to the Justice Precincts or plans to use voting centers in next year’s election.
“I think what’s important now is making sure that we are relentless in communicating these changes to the voters because what we don’t want is for anyone to get discouraged or confused or disenfranchised,” said Supervisor Steve Gallardo, District 5.
Additional changes to voting precincts will be considered after the 2020 census.
“We’re talking about people’s sacred voting privilege so this is a process all of us took very seriously” said Board of Supervisors Chairman Denny Barney, District 1.