Suggestions from the public for drawing new boundaries for Board of Supervisors, state Legislature and congressional districts face a series of deadlines this week.
The county also has posted maps that show the current Asian and Latino populations and how various proposals would apportion those groups among supervisorial districts. Latinos and Asians are the two largest minorities in Orange County.
Today is the deadline for public comment on the first drafts of maps for the Legislature, Board of Equalization and Congress.
Written suggestions should be emailed by 5 p.m. to the California Citizens Redistricting Commission at votersfirstact@crc.ca.gov, or sent by fax to 916-651-5711.
The second drafts of the maps will be released July 14.
At 2 p.m. Thursday, supervisors’ aides will meet in the Orange County Hall of Administration in Santa Ana to reveal their top choices for new boundaries and hear public comment.
To date, supervisors’ offices have submitted plans, some with modifications, showing the boundaries each prefers. Janet Nguyen is the only supervisor who hasn’t offered a plan.
Following Thursday’s hearing, the county committee will draft new boundaries and submit them to the Board of Supervisors by July 26. The committee may hold another public meeting before then, if it feels it is necessary, according to its operating guidelines.
Boundaries for major elective offices are redrawn every 10 years following the U.S. Census.
This year, a prime issue in Orange County is apportioning the votes of the county’s Latino and Asian populations. The Vietnamese community centered in Westminster is hoping the new boundaries will unite the Little Saigon area, giving it voting strength.
But overlap with Latino communities could lead to one or both groups being split and seeing its influence diminished.
According to census numbers compiled by the redistricting committee, Nguyen’s First Supervisorial District in central Orange County has a voting-age population that is 53.3 percent Hispanic and 26.7 percent Asian.
The voting-age population in Supervisor Shawn Nelson’s Fourth Supervisorial District in North County is 43.4 percent Hispanic and 18.7 percent Asian.