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Orange County’s Mid-Decennial Redistricting Advisory Committee met for the second time March 13 at the Orange County Administration Center in downtown Orlando to continue preparing to carve eight county districts out of the current six. The advisory committee’s inaugural meeting was March 6.
In November, voters approved a county amendment to add two more districts to the county, increasing representation on the Board of County Commissioners. An advisory committee was formed in January. It’s composed of 15 members, three of whom were appointed by Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings with the six county commissioners naming two members apiece to the committee.
Typically redistricting occurs every 10 years once the U.S. Census is complete. Redrawing the electoral district boundaries now is known as mid-decennial redistricting because it’s done between regular redistricting cycles.
At its first meetings, the advisory committee members primarily discussed the procedures they will follow throughout the redistricting process as well as recommendations for redrawing the districts to limit boundary manipulations that could lead to voter discrimination.
To create the actual maps, the advisory committee will use Dave’s Redistricting App (DRA), which is loaded with demographic data from the 2020 U.S. Census. Developed by software engineer Dave Bradlee, who has a PhD in computer science from the University of Washington and 40 years experience, including at Microsoft, DRA can draw district maps for all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
DRA’s mission, according to its site, is to “empower civic organizations and citizen activists to advocate for fair congressional, legislative and local districts, and increased transparency in the redistricting process.”
Advisory committee members will use the next two meetings learning how to use DRA. Training sessions will be held March 25 and March 26 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Commission Chambers at the Orange County Administration Center at 201 S. Roslind Avenue.
Meetings are open to the public, and county residents are encouraged to attend meetings, learn to use DRA and experiment with it at home to create their own maps. Those who cannot attend meetings but would like to make comments, can fill out and submit an online public comment form here.
The deadline for advisory committee members to submit maps for consideration is 11:59 p.m. on July 3. The final map will be adopted Sept. 3.
Commissioners to represent the two new districts will be elected in 2026.
