Howard County
Howard County's council districts have a population deviation (14%) that is 40% higher than the allowable limit and the districts aren't entirely compact or contiguous. However, Howard County is not one of the worst offenders on any of these measures.
- Overview
- Map
- Data
County Redistricting Overview
State law and state and federal court decisions require that local government districts be compact, contiguous, not cross precinct boundaries, and be as nearly equal in population as possible (usually with population deviation of less than 10%). To be in compliance, answers to each of the questions below should be "Yes".
Note: Other requirements regarding vote dilution and minority representation are not examined in this report.
| Were the districts based on the 2000 census in compliance with state law? | No. The population deviation based on the 2000 census is unknown, but see below for problems regarding compactness and contiguity. | |
| Did the county redistrict after the 2010 census? |
Probably not, as the 2000 and 2010 maps appear to be identical. |
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| Is the population deviation of the current districts less than 10%? | No. It is 14%. | |
| Are the current districts compact and contiguous? |
No. District 3 is most of Kokomo and follows city lines for the most part. Precinct 12 is mostly in District 3, but part of it sits like a small island entirely within District 4 even though the city doesn't seem to own it. Precinct Center 4 is mostly in District 1, but small parts are wholly within District 4, although in this case the division does, at least, follow town lines. |
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| Is every precinct wholly contained within a single district? | Yes | |
2010 Census Data
In 2012, we were able to determine exact populations for each county council district by identifying which precincts (as drawn in 2011 by each county) were in which county council district. We were able to calculate precinct populations using the 2010 census as long as precincts contained whole census blocks, which they are supposed to do.
| District 1 | 20,036 | | | District 2 | 22,774 | | | District 3 | 19,937 | | | District 4 | 20,005 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Total Population | 82,752 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Average District Population | 20,688 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Population Deviation | 13.7% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Population deviation is calculated by subtracting the smallest district from the largest district and dividing by the average district population. The maximum allowable deviation for local governments is 10%.