Over 22K affected by redistricting

May 17—Rogers County Election Board will be preparing around 36,000 envelopes to inform voters of their new voting districts or polling locations, which must be completed by next Friday.

"We are probably going to have some late nights," Election Board Secretary Julie Dermody.

Redistricting, which happens every 10 years, is to ensure each voter is represented fairly and each representative has a similar number of constituents. With around 60,000 voters in Rogers County, over a fourth of the population will notice a difference in their voting districts this election season.

"These are the lines we must live with for the next 10 years," Dermody said. "The Legislative body designates the lines, we conform to them."

It is important to note that registered voters must vote at the polling location where they are assigned.

Dermody said the biggest changes are with the State House and Senate representative. She said the County Commissioners districts saw small changes.

Rogers County gained over 9,000 new residents since the last census 10 years ago, Dermody said.

"We are definitely going through some growing pains," she said.

With over a 10% increase in population, Dermody said some polling locations could no longer handle the demand. Polling locations changed for an additional 13,000 voters.

Voters affected will begin receiving letters in the mail in about three weeks. Dermody said voters can also go to rogerscountyelectionboard.org and enter their name and date of birth into the voter portal to see if any of the changes affected them.

In 2011, 17,000 voters were redistricted, she said. This redistricting cycle is more difficult not just because of the increase in voters, but also due to a national paper shortage, she said.

Midwest Printing printed all of the envelopes and Dermody said the board was lucky they had ordered more paper ahead of time for this project.

The next election is June 28 and the voter registration deadline is June 3.