Colorado Congressional redistricting final plan heading to State Supreme Court
DENVER -- Colorado's 8th Congressional district now has a place on the map after the Colorado Independent Congressional Redistricting Commission approved a final plan late Tuesday night. The final plan will be submitted to the Colorado Supreme Court on October 1st, and the court has until November 1st to issue an opinion on the plan.
Click here to view or download the plan, as an interactive map.
The plan was approved by the commission with a vote of 11-1. To fulfill the constitutional requirement the commission only needed a majority of eight of the twelve commissioners, including at least two unaffiliated commissioners.
“The thousands of public comments from Coloradans, diligent map-making from the staff, and thoughtful discussions from the commission are all what led us to this moment and it has been an honor to chair the first Colorado Independent Congressional Redistricting Commission and hope we’ve set a standard for other states to follow in the future,” said Chair Carly Hare.
The Colorado Constitution requires congressional districts meet the following standards:
- Have equal population, justifying each variance, no matter how small, as required by the U.S. Constitution
- Be composed of contiguous geographic areas
- Comply with the federal "Voting Rights Act of 1965," as amended
- Preserve whole communities of interest and whole political subdivisions, such as counties, cities, and towns
- Be as compact as is reasonably possible
- Maximize the number of politically competitive districts.
Districts cannot be drawn with intentions of protecting political incumbents, declared candidates, or any political party.
Due to a population increase documented by 2020 census data, Colorado gained an 8th congressional redistrict.
