Became effective January 1 and were based on 2020 Census data
By Jack criss
The Bolivar Bullet
The Bolivar County Board of Supervisors, in November of last year, adopted, authorized and unanimously approved a new redistricting plan based on, and in compliance with, 2020 Census data for supervisory districts and the realignment of county voting precincts required because of the changing of the districts.
“Every ten years, based on population numbers gathered by Census data, the Constitutional requirement of the ‘one-person, one-vote’ rule in the 14th Amendment, is essentially reaffirmed,” said Will Hooker, Bolivar County Administrator. “For all of our 82 counties here in Mississippi, the requirement dictates that every county board supervisor has the same amount of population within a certain deviation of each other–the all populations are similar for each supervisor’s district. The new data revealed that the population of the district had changed to exceed 10% from the least populated district, which resulted in a total deviation in the amount of 30.97%.
This is yet another reason why citizens should participate in the Census,” said Hooker, “because population numbers dictate access to grant monies as well as affecting their own supervisors. Our most recent Census numbers show a decrease in population in Bolivar County and caused a shift in our supervisors’ districts. The biggest loss of population took place in District One,” he said, “which showed close to a drop by 1000 people. So, district lines had to be changed to make up for that.
The Board unanimously approved the new District lines and the maps are available for all citizens to review at the Chancery Clerk’s office,” said Hooker. “The new lines were advertised and public hearings were held in August and September last year by the people doing the actual redistricting in order to obtain community input. The maps have been finalized and submitted to the Secretary of State’s office by the Honorable Ellis Turnage of Turnage Law Office in Cleveland, who is expert with experience in matters of local government redistricting and who assisted throughout this whole process.. The new lines were active as of January 1 since the Board had a deadline of the end of 2022 to have them prepared and ready.”
Other information pertaining to the new redistricting is also available for public review at the Bolivar County Chancery Clerk office, said Hooker.