Ward Redistricting 2022

OVERVIEW OF CITY REDISTRICTING PLAN

State law RCW 29A.76.010 requires municipalities to evaluate its elected officials’ voter districts after each federal decennial census. The law requires a number of criteria related to the districts be examined, and revised if found to be inconsistent with the law.

The City of Anacortes worked with Sammamish Data LLC to evaluate the City’s existing voter districts: Ward 1, Ward 2, and Ward 3.

One of the primary requirements of the statue is RCW 29A.76.010(4)(a) which directs that each district be as nearly equal as possible. While this term is not defined, its generally understood that results exceeding 10% difference between districts would require further examination.

The 2021 United States Census showed a City population of 17,637, which provides an ideal population of each ward of 5,879 (17,637 divided by three = 5,879).

The results of the City’s review show the existing ward boundaries come within acceptable limits of as “equal as possible”, in that the Ward 1 population is 11 people below ideal, or -.19%, Ward 2 is 9 over or .15%, and Ward 3 is 2 over or .03%.

The full report is available for review: Current Wards in 2020 Census.

The slides presented at the March 28, 2022 Council meeting are also available: Ward Redistricting 2022 Slide Deck.

Resolution 3078: City Council Ward Redistricting Plan  was presented and approved by City Council on April 25, 2022. 

Comments or questions regarding the redistricting process can be submitted to cityclerk@cityofanacortes.org, or by phone to the City Clerk’s office at (360) 293-1906.