Changes to Maricopa County Voting Boundaries

Reprecincting & Redistricting

Voting precincts are the geographic area used to report election results and serve as one of the many building blocks the County uses to determine what’s on your ballot and prepare for elections. Reprecincting happens when the geographic boundary lines of the precinct are redrawn to align with changes to federal, state and local district lines, to accommodate population growth and to evenly distribute population among precincts.

 

While the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission is responsible for redrawing Congressional and Legislative district lines every 10 years after the U.S. Census is released, Maricopa County is responsible for updating voting precinct, Justice Court precinct and Board of Supervisor district boundaries (A.R.S. §§ 16-411 and 22-101).

Voting Precincts

State law requires that the Board of Supervisors establish a “convenient number” of precincts when drawing the boundaries. Each voting precinct can only have one Congressional, Legislative, Supervisorial, Community College and Special Health Care District and the lines cannot “split” a precinct between two of the same type of district.

Justice Precincts

Justice Precincts are the boundaries for the 26 Justice Courts of Maricopa County, each with an elected Justice of the Peace and Constable. State law requires that “judicial productivity credits” not exceed 1,200 credits (A.R.S. § 22-125). If those credits are exceeded, the Board of Supervisors must create additional courts or redraw the boundaries (A.R.S. § 22-101).

Board of Supervisors Districts

State law requires the Board of Supervisor Districts be redistricted after each decennial census.  Due to the Census delay, lawmakers passed SB1107, which extended the deadline to approve district changes to July 1, 2022. Because Supervisor District lines match Special Health Care and Community College Districts, changes made to Supervisor boundaries will be the same for these two special districts.