City Of Oklahoma City: Oklahoma City Begins Redistricting Process

Press release from the City of Oklahoma City:

01/10/2022 2:07 PM

The first draft of an Oklahoma City ward redistricting map is available for review on okc.gov/redistricting. The site includes a short video describing the redistricting process in English and transcribed into Spanish and Vietnamese. 

Redistricting is a requirement of both federal law and City Charter following the release of the U.S. Census every 10 years to ensure all wards have approximately the same number of people. 

According to the 2020 Census, the population in Oklahoma City climbed from 579,999 in 2010 to 681,054 in 2020. Higher rates of growth on the north and west sides (wards 1, 3 and 8) spurred the need to rebalance the population in the City’s eight wards. 

City staff used mapping software to create and visualize the draft map. Staff attended in-person and online redistricting classes offered by the National Conference of State Legislatures. 

The City was last redistricted in 2011. A current ward map can be viewed at https://www.okc.gov/residents/ward-map. 

Criteria used to redistrict 

City Council members passed a resolution on Sept. 28, 2021, approving the following redistricting criteria. Boundaries must: 

Other recommended criteria include not breaking up established neighborhoods and business districts as well as using highways, major roads and natural borders as ward boundaries.  

The target population set for each ward based on the Census data is 85,132. On the first draft of the ward map, Ward 6 has the smallest population with 83,738 people and Ward 3 has the largest with 86,400. 

“We worked hard to balance the population in each ward within 2 percent while still meeting the contiguous and compact requirements,” said Assistant City Manager Kenton Tsoodle. “It was important to us to keep neighborhoods together and we were largely successful in doing that.” 

How residents can weigh in

Here are ways people can learn more about the redistricting process, ask questions and provide input:

Comments will close on February 8. 

Redistricting timeline

After the public input is considered, City staff expect to bring a proposed ward map to a vote of the City Council in spring 2022. It will be considered during a three-meeting process.  The new boundaries are expected to take effect several months ahead of the required deadline. 

What is redistricting?

In Oklahoma City, City Council wards must be redrawn every ten years following the U.S. Census, so each district is balanced in population. Redistricting determines which neighborhoods are grouped into wards. Each ward is represented by an elected Councilperson that serves a four-year term. Redistricting is important because it ensures each city council member represents about the same number of constituents. 

Oklahoma City is nonpartisan and operates under a Council-Manager form of government. 

City Councilmembers are: Ward 1 Bradley Carter, Ward 2 James Cooper, Ward 3 Barbara Young, Ward 4 Todd Stone, Ward 5 David Greenwell, Ward 6 JoBeth Hamon, Ward 7 Nikki Nice and Ward 8 Mark Stonecipher.

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Media Contact: Kristy Yager, (405) 297-2550 / kristy.yager@okc.gov

This press release was produced by the City of Oklahoma City. The views expressed here are the author’s own.