A new census is conducted every ten years. The results are nearly a year behind due to the COVID stuff and we still don't have the final numbers we need for redistricting, which also occurs every ten years. The reason for redistricting is to keep all the county districts as close in population as possible.

Every commissioner should represent nearly an equal number of citizens. The optimum representation would be 5,466 per commissioner since we have ten commissioners and the new population is 54,662. The 1st, 2nd and 5th districts have two commissioners while the rest have only one commissioner.  To reach the optimum representation of 5,466, a few district lines will have to be moved here and there but no major chances will be necessary.

There are a few oddities in the new numbers. If you look at the registered voters by district, you'll note that the registered voter total is almost always less than the population, as it should be, taking into account that many in the population are not yet 18 years of age, and of course, there are a lot of folks that just don't register to vote.

In the 2nd district, Lenoir City, there are actually more unregistered voters than there are registered voters. That's odd for sure but Lenoir City does have a large Hispanic population, many of which would not be eligible to vote.

Just the opposite occurs in the 7th district, Tellico Village. In the village there are 711 more registered voters than population. That's a little odd too. Some of the difference could be accounted for by those who have duel residences in the village then in other states also. Lots of villagers split their time in more than one state.

The 5th district, Eatons/Browder, grew the most with 1,415 new residents moving in. The 5th continues to be the largest geographic district with the largest population. 

Hopefully, we'll have the final numbers early enough to get redistricting done this year. If not, next years district elections will use the current boundaries.