Census data on towns and counties almost here

OXFORD COUNTY — Maine's legislative districts are set to be redrawn for the first time in 10 years.

Redistricting will be based on census data that will be released in a matter of weeks.

"The population counts are used to ensure that the principle of one person one vote stays current," said Amanda Rector, a census expert who works with the state's Economics and Demographics Program.

"If the population changes, you have to change the boundaries of a district to make sure that each representative and senator is representing the same approximate number of people."

As soon as the data is released, legislators will begin the process of rethinking district boundaries.

While some states have historically used this process as a means of political jockeying, Rector says that Maine has a system in place that discourages the drawing of district boundaries to favor individuals or parties.

"Maine has a particular process for redistricting that's outlined in the state constitution that is a bipartisan methodology," said Rector.

State laws on apportionment dictate that a state commission "shall ensure that each congressional district is formed of compact and contiguous territory and crosses political subdivisions the least number of times necessary to establish districts as equally populated as possible."

Maine is one of the very last states to receive this data, largely because it will be one of the last states to make use of it. Even though the data is released this year, the actual redistricting process is not completed until 2013.

"There's not the same rush," said Rector. "Some states are doing redistricting right now, and so they really need the data right away."

The population counts are important, says Rector, because funding can sometimes be disbursed based on the number of people in an area.

"Certainly there are [federal and state] programs that base those decisions on the population count," said Rector. "That's why it's so important when they're conducting the count that everybody be counted. They need that information to make those decisions."

Rector says that the federal data is also an important tool for state and municipal governments to rely on for various decisions.

"It's important for the town to know what its own population is so that they can figure out local decisions about schools and development planning."