Voting boundaries for elected officials at the local, state and federal level are redrawn every 10 years following the release of decennial U.S. census data.
El Paso County’s population in 2020 was 865,657, according to data released in August. The figure represents an 8% increase over the prior census in 2010 — the county’s slowest period of growth since the Great Depression.
The numbers are used for everything from political representation to federal and state spending. El Paso County’s growth rate was half of the state’s 15.9% population growth between 2010 and 2020, which means El Paso will have less political clout at the state and federal level after political boundaries are redrawn later this year by the Texas Legislature.
At the local level, the city and county will redraw boundaries for seats on Commissioners Court and City Council based on the population changes.
The county’s Redistricting Advisory Commission has been meeting since June and had an open submission for maps from the community. Three map proposals have been submitted for the commission’s consideration. One of the maps was submitted by the League of Women Voters, which created its own local redistricting committee, and includes changes to each of the four county commissioners’ precincts.
County officials said there will be a final public meeting at 9 a.m. Saturday at County Courthouse Room 303.
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