At Tuesday's Wichita City Council meeting, the council appointed a commission of electors to revise the city’s district boundaries.
This process occurs every 10 years after the new U.S. Census data is released. The electors will propose revisions to Wichita's six district boundaries to keep the population balance around 66,255 residents each. The goal is to have no more than a 5 percent deviation in each district. According to the 2020 Census data, District 2 and 3 each have the greatest deviation that must be addressed.
The electors must follow several guidelines, which include keeping each district reasonably compact and avoiding the use of partisan data. They will submit their recommendations to the council by the end of August and the city must approve the new boundaries by the end of the year.
Council member Jeff Blubaugh appointed KNSS talk show host John Whitmer to the commission but Council member Brandon Johnson opposed the nomination. Johnson’s substitute motion passed and Whitmer initially was not elected. Blubaugh’s second motion passed on a 4-3 vote, with Mayor Brandon Whipple, Johnson and Council member Maggie Ballard voting no.