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Commission To Hold Public Meeting On New Congressional District Maps

In this Nov. 12, 2018 file photo, ballots are prepared to be tabulated in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District election in Augusta, Maine.
Robert F. Bukaty
/
AP file
In this Nov. 12, 2018 file photo, ballots are prepared to be tabulated in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District election in Augusta, Maine.

The commission charged with redrawing Maine's congressional and legislative districts will hold a public meeting Friday as Republican and Democratic members work on maps that will be used in next year's election.

Since mid-August, the reapportionment commission has broken off into two teams — one Democrat, one Republican — to draft proposals that will determine electoral battlegrounds for the next 10 years.

The teams are working off of new U.S. Census data and trying to find consensus on how to move more than 23,000 people from the 1st Congressional District into the 2nd.

Both districts must be roughly equal in population, and efforts have focused on Kennebec County, where towns are already split between the two.

Republicans and Democrats could reveal proposed maps at next Friday's meeting, which will be held virtually and potentially in-person in Augusta.

Two-thirds of the Maine Legislature will ultimately have to ratify the new maps, which is expected to occur in mid-October.

Journalist Steve Mistler is Maine Public’s chief politics and government correspondent. He is based at the State House.