Changes to the election ward map are largely concentrated along the downtown corridor, adding residents to Wards 3 and 4. The clerk-recorder’s office redraws the map every 10 years to reflect population shifts captured in the U.S. Census.
The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved Carson City’s election map at their special meeting Thursday morning.
Accompanied by Junior Mayor Abby Bindley, Mayor Lori Bagwell opened and adjourned the meeting in less than six minutes. Since the board’s Dec. 16 meeting, there were no changes to the election map, no alterations to the municipal code, and no public comments.
The supervisors held the special meeting so they could finalize the map before the new year. Carson City charter requires the board redraw the map every decade to reflect population changes captured in the U.S. Census – the process is known as “redistricting” and “reapportionment.” The board must adopt the map before the end of the year, just in time for elections.
The city is divided into four equal “wards,” and each ward has a supervisor that represents the citizens in that geographic area, plus the city mayor. The boundary changes in this year’s map are minimal, bringing each ward population to just under 14,700.
The supervisors also altered city municipal code so the election map must be adopted through a law, rather than a written city policy. The change makes the municipal code consistent with the city charter.
Aubrey Rowlatt, clerk-recorder, led the redistricting process. At the Dec. 16 meeting, she said her office received only two public comments. One asked that she keep Native American populations together – Carson City’s indigenous residents fit almost wholly in Ward 4. And a second public commenter commended her office on a job well done.
