City of Rochester and Olmsted County working together to facilitate local redistricting process

Olmsted County and the City of Rochester are working together to facilitate the local redistricting process. While the county and the city are required to have their own separate processes, the organizations will collaborate to help ensure community members have the pertinent information they need by providing an educational campaign, as well as joint community engagement efforts. It is expected that the process will occur between November 2021 – April 2022.

Redistricting is typically completed in the United States every 10 years, which is normally directly following the completion of the decennial Census. The process of redrawing the boundaries of election districts is done to ensure the people of each district are equally represented. 

“Redistricting is an important part of our democracy. Being able to work collaboratively with the county to best serve our community reflects our strong commitment to this process. We encourage our residents to utilize the materials available to understand the local redistricting process and to participate in engagement opportunities in the coming months,” shares City Administrator Alison Zelms.

The county and city are currently finalizing both virtual and in person listening sessions. These sessions will provide community members the opportunity to share their feedback before the drafting of new maps begins, which will identify new city ward and county districts. The drafting of maps cannot begin until the new legislative districts are received from the State of Minnesota, which will likely occur in early 2022.   

Olmsted County Administrator Heidi Welsch highlights, “This once in a decade process helps ensure our elected officials are fairly representing geographies that have seen a change in population. The county and city teams are working collectively to provide the best process possible to our residents.”

Both the county and city have redistricting websites that provide more information on the process, including frequently asked questions. Virtual and in person listening sessions will begin in November. More information will be shared as it becomes available.  

The City of Rochester is currently developing a set of redistricting principles to bring forward for City Council review and potential adoption in December 2021. The work direction came from a 2019 Council Initiated Action (CIA).