Redistricting debacle in Cheyenne complicates local decisions

The Laramie City Council ordered a “placeholder” map for ward boundaries Tuesday. But state lawmakers are still redrawing the state, and the placeholder map will have to be amended.

Local officials are trying to plan for the upcoming 2022 elections, but they can only do so much while Wyoming’s political boundaries continue to be redrawn.

The State Legislature is mired in its statutorily required redistricting process, rebalancing its House and Senate Districts based on the new 2020 U.S. Census data.

The redistricting process has been messy and there’s a lot still up in the air.

But in light of the same census data, the Laramie City Council also has to redraw its own political lines — the lines denoting ward boundaries. And it can’t afford to wait for the new state maps.

“We’re in a bit of a jam,” Mayor Paul Weaver said during the council’s meeting Tuesday.

‘Privacy of the vote’

Laramie’s three city wards don’t fit squarely within House Districts, but they do need to be crafted with the districts in mind. Basically, it’s a matter of privacy.

“That’s a big concern for us and certainly for any elector out there,” Albany County Clerk Jackie Gonzales said.

Election results are reported by precinct, and everyone in the same precinct has the same ballot on the night of the general election.

Imagine, for a moment, that house districts and city wards are carved up in such a way that all of Ward 1 is in House District 45, but House District 45 is a little bigger than Ward 1, so one tiny street on the edge of the house district actually belongs to Ward 2.

In this example, most of Ward 2 is in another house district. But that one little street, that one little sliver, votes both for Ward 2 city councilors and for HD-45 representation at the state level.

When results are reported on election night, the ballots containing the specific combination of both Ward 2 and House District 45 votes are tallied together and listed as their own statistic. But that tally of ballots shows only how those four or five residents voted, highlighting that specific street’s political preferences.

With a little local knowledge, it would not be difficult to guess who voted for whom.

The example here is fictional, but represents a simplified version of a real dilemma faced by those doing the redistricting.

“There are places around the state that have a precinct that has three divisions because of house districts,” Councilor Erin O’Doherty said. “And so when that information has to be presented — because that’s how the vote gets verified — you know how they all voted.”

O’Doherty added the city council will have to avoid these slivers if they wish to protect the “privacy of the vote.”

And they can’t avoid those slivers until they know where the house district lines fall. They can’t know where those house district lines fall until the State Legislature completes the redistricting process.

Approving a placeholder

The result is a placeholder map — one that will have to be amended after state lawmakers finish their work in Cheyenne.

City staff will soon bring an ordinance outlining the current placeholder map. The city council directed them to do so in a motion Tuesday.

“We understand you as a council have strong concerns about how our ward boundaries end up falling within the ultimate redistricting of the legislature,” City Manager Janine Jordan said. “Our intent tonight is not for you to choose the ideal map.”

City staff’s ordinance will be brought to the city council, which will then subject it to three readings at three separate council meetings. Each reading will provide an opportunity for public comment; each reading will also provide councilors an opportunity to amend the map – which they will almost certainly have to do.

Councilor Andi Summerville was hesitant about approving a placeholder map, and ultimately cast one of just two votes against the motion Tuesday.

“There are significant differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill,” she said. “This likely will not be finished until next week, if I had to take a guess.”

But Mayor Weaver said it was “an issue of timing.”

City staff will bring the ordinance for first reading probably on March 8, at the council’s next regular meeting. It can then receive a second and third reading throughout March and into April.

County Clerk Jackie Gonzales will take that map, with its attendant precincts and polling places, to the Albany County Commission in time for their first meeting in May. Candidate filing opens soon after, on May 12.

“Our window to educate the public, as well as provide the information to all the electors, is a really slim timeline that we have to work with,” Gonzales said.