By Lacie Pierson, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — People at a hearing about West Virginia’s legislative redistricting process told lawmakers Thursday they are most concerned about transparency and ensuring the House of Delegates has 100 single-member districts.
In the West Virginia Culture Center, 14 people, including county elections officials, county party representatives and concerned citizens, also asked lawmakers to do everything they can to honor county, municipal and neighborhood boundaries when they redraw the state’s legislative districts.
Thursday’s meeting was the 11th of 12 hosted by the West Virginia Legislature Joint Committee on Redistricting, as part of its preparation to redraw the state’s 17 Senate Districts, as well as expand the number of House Districts from 67 to 100.
The meeting included nine members of the 33-member Redistricting Committee who are tasked with drawing up the district maps that lawmakers are expected to consider in October.
Work on drawing the district maps has been slow to start, because of the delayed release of the 2020 U.S. Census data. The data typically is released in April, following a census year, but COVID-19 led to delays. The preliminary 2020 census data was released in August, and final reports are expected by the end of this month…