First draft of State Legislative redistricting maps released

COLORADO (KRDO) -- The State Legislative Redistricting Commission just released its first drafts of the new districts for both the State House of Representatives and the State Senate.

This is the first time a group of citizens has redrawn the districts, versus politicians. The State Legislative Redistricting Commissiondrawing is made up of four Democrats, four Republicans, and four unaffiliated voters. Each member had to apply to the commission.

The chair of the commission is from Colorado Springs. Carlos Perez, an unaffiliated voter, hopes these first maps serve as more of a conversation starter than anything else.

"We had to start somewhere with this, and we want to hear from the public. So, the purpose of these maps is actually to bring the people into the process to give us these comments," Perez said.

As the new maps were just released early Tuesday, it was too early for Perez to comment on how much of an impact they might make for voters. Although, he said one of his biggest goals is to make sure that historically underrepresented communities have a voice in this process.

"One of my focuses here, being one of the Hispanic commissioners, is also ensuring that the traditionally underrepresented communities, Blacks and Hispanics have a voice in our governmental systems here -- our legislative districts. So, I also want to make sure that we have adequate representation for people who are traditionally not a part of this process," Perez said.

If you'd like to weigh in on these new maps, click here.

For a more in-depth look at the Colorado House Districts Statewide Preliminary Map and the Colorado Senate Districts Statewide Preliminary Map, click here.