On Tuesday, February 23, 2021, at 5:30 p.m., a joint meeting of the Senate and House redistricting committees was held to begin the process of examining the upcoming process of redistricting following the 2020 Census. Data from the 2020 Census will be significantly delayed beyond the timeframes provided in the Oregon Constitution for redistricting, so the Oregon State Legislature has retained an attorney to research options for implementing the 2020 Census.
The committees heard an initial round of testimony from key stakeholders, including local government. Deschutes County Clerk, Nancy Blankenship and Association of Oregon Counties (AOC) Legal Counsel and Legislative Director, Rob Bovett were invited to testify on behalf of counties. Blankenship provided the committee with an overview of issues the committee should consider in order to avoid a number of snafus that occurred in prior redistricting. This will be an ongoing project for the remainder of the year.
Contributed by: Rob Bovett | Legal Counsel and Legislative Director