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Public commenters tell Deschutes County commissioners Map C risks partisan gerrymandering; board hears analysis
Summary
Public commenters and local analysts told the Deschutes County Board that DMACC’s Map C is partisan and would shift control of the five-member board despite recent county results; commissioners discussed process, data choices and next steps but did not adopt a map at this meeting.
Public comment and concerned analysis dominated the opening of the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners’ Nov. 17 work session as several residents and local analysts urged commissioners not to advance districting based on the District Mapping Advisory Committee’s recommendation (DMACC Map C).
Residents who spoke during the public-comment period argued voters had approved expanding the board from three to five members but had not voted to move to district-based elections. One commenter said the map “divides us into little gerrymandered pieces” and urged the board to preserve countywide at-large elections so each commissioner is accountable to all residents.
An analyst who said they had submitted a memorandum and precinct-level charts warned DMACC’s Map C—adopted by a 4–3 committee vote—would give a Republican voting minority three of the five districts when applied retrospectively to recent election results. The analyst noted the committee used voter-registration data rather than updated population counts, and said no other county in the state uses voter-registration records as the primary base for drawing county commissioner districts.
Commissioners and staff asked speakers for specifics about what services or policies would be affected by districting and reiterated procedural steps ahead: drawing seat numbers by lot, gathering updated data and returning to the public for comment. One commissioner said the county would continue with the next steps for placing a district plan on the ballot but emphasized the process remains ongoing and debated.
The board did not take a formal vote on a map at this meeting. Commissioners asked staff to provide clarifying documentation, including the precinct-level data and the analyses submitted to DMACC, and to coordinate next steps for additional public input and technical modeling.
This matter is likely to return to the board in subsequent meetings as the county formalizes how it will translate the voter-approved expansion into an election method and district boundaries.
