A press release from Washington State Redistricting Commission.
The Washington State Redistricting Commission’s (WSRC) online mapping tool has been updated with the official 2020 Census data necessary for the people of Washington to draw maps and submit them for consideration by the Commissioners.
The WSRC now invites all Washington’s residents to log on and help Draw Your WA.
“For those who wish to make third party map submissions, now is the time to visit redistricting.wa.gov, log in to the mapping tool, and draft your vision of what Washington’s state legislative and congressional district maps should look like,” said Commission Chair Sarah Augustine.
The DrawYourWA mapping tool is available to all the public. The website includes detailed instructions explaining how to utilize the mapping features.
The newly uploaded data set includes the 2020 Census information as adjusted by the institutional relocation statute. The adjusted data set assigns those residing in institutional settings operated by the state to their last known address for the purposes of congressional and legislative redistricting as required by law.
To ensure Commissioners have time to consider your suggestions during their deliberations, you should submit your map no later than October 22. However, the tool will remain live for several weeks after that date allowing the public to continue to work with and utilize the software.
“We believe keeping the tool live makes for an excellent educational opportunity even after the Commission finishes its work,” Augustine said. “We think social studies, government, civics, and graphic information system mapping instructors may get some value from using the tool in their classrooms.”
Once the Commissioners publish their draft state legislative district (September 21) and congressional district (September 28) map proposals, the public can access the proposed maps on the WSRC website and comment directly on specific areas of each proposed map.
Here are important dates to remember going forward:
- Tuesday, September 21 – Commissioners will each release their proposed state legislative district map.
- Tuesday, September 28 – Commissioners will each release their proposed Congressional district map.
- Tuesday, October 5 (7 p.m.) – Statewide Virtual Public Outreach Meeting to receive feedback on state legislative map proposals.
- Saturday, October 9 (10 a.m.) – Statewide Virtual Public Outreach Meeting to receive feedback on congressional map proposals.
- Friday, October 22 – Deadline to ensure full consideration of third-party map submissions by the Commission.
- Monday, November 15 (11:59 p.m.) – Deadline for Commission to submit final maps to the Legislature.
All map submissions, comments on proposed maps, and comments sent using the various methods available on our website are subject to public disclosure under the Washington State Public Records Act. Commissioners will see all comments made regardless of the method of comment or language used.
