Boundaries set for commissioner districts

When it was all said and done, Perkins County’s commissioner districts will look similar to what they have in the past. 

Commissioners adopted the revised boundaries during a special meeting Oct. 27. 

Redistricting is required after the completion of the census to ensure voters are equally represented. 

The 2020 census counted 2,858 people. An equal amount in each commissioner district would 953. 

The first proposal presented to the commissioners Oct. 18 split the number of people equally but formed some unconventional district boundaries. 

The county contracts with gWorks of Omaha for their geographic information system services. County Clerk Rita Long hired gWorks to assist with the county redistricting process. 

At the Oct. 18 meeting, Long said she had already given gWorks directions to come up with a more workable proposal. 

That was presented and adopted at the special meeting. 

The proposal slices the county into three districts, each running from the Chase County line north to the Keith County line. 

All three districts include a portion of Grant. In the previous proposal, Grant was split between District 1 and District 3.

Redistricting rules allow up to a +/- 5% deviation from the targeted population in each of the three districts while keeping them “substantially equal.”

As a result, the most eastern district, District 1, will have 908 people, a difference of 45 from the target of 953, or a deviation of -4.72%.    

District 1 is currently served by Sid Colson. 

District 2, served by Ron Hagan, will be the largest of the three with 999 people, 46 more than the target but still within the deviation standard at 4.83%.

District 3, served by Steve Tucker, is the closest to the target with 951 people.

Commissioners decided to keep their road districts as they are now. There’s no requirement that calls for the road district to be the same as district boundaries. 

Voting precincts change

With the redistricting of the Nebraska Legislature, Perkins County ended up in two different districts. 

For the past 10 years, all of Perkins County has been in the 44th District.

But after the required redistricting of the Legislature, Perkins County wound up in two separate legislative districts—the 44th and the 42nd.

The southwest quarter of Perkins County, including Grant and Venango, where District 44 Senator Dan Hughes lives, remained in the 44th. 

The other three quarters of Perkins County moved in to the 42nd District. 

One of the issues Long saw with the first draft from gWorks was that she would have likely had to add voting precincts. 

Instead, she was able to eliminate one precinct based solely on the legislative district boundaries. 

Statute requires each precinct to be in a specific legislative district. 

Looking at the two legislative district in the county, she said it made sense to create one voting precinct for all voters within District 42. 

The other precinct will include the rest of Perkins County that remained in District 44. 

She said this will allow her office to use the fairgrounds building as the single polling place in the county, just as in past elections.

Long said she’s fielded several questions on where voters will cast their ballot for District 42 candidates. 

She said they will continue to vote in Perkins County, like they always have.