The city of Sacramento is in the final stages of redistricting after Measure B authorized a delay due to the pandemic


The Sacramento Independent Redistricting Commission is set to select its 2022 redistricting map on Dec. 8 with final adoption scheduled for Dec. 16. 

In November 2020, voters in Sacramento approved Measure B, which amended the city’s charter authorizing a one-time delay in the redistricting process. The amendment moved the deadline for map adoption to 130 days before the 2022 primary city election, which is scheduled for June 7, 2022. This moved the deadline to January 28, 2022. 

The amendment was proposed because the U.S. Census Bureau delayed the estimated date it would release census data from April 1, 2021, to July 31, 2021. The Sacramento charter requires that new redistricting maps be adopted six months after the census data is delivered and be in place for at least six months before a primary election.

Sacramento voters established the Independent Redistricting Commission with the adoption of Measure L in 2016. The redistricting commission consists of 13 commissioners—one from each of the eight existing districts and five appointed by the first eight commissioners. The city’s redistricting process begins with public map submissions, which are then narrowed down by the commission and altered to meet the criteria required by the city’s charter. 

Measure B was put on the ballot in 2020 by a vote of the Sacramento City Council, and voters approved it 66.62% to 33.38%.

Ballotpedia has tracked 16 certified ballot measures and nine potential measures proposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and related regulations. New Jersey voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2020 that also delayed redistricting deadlines to account for delays in census data availability. Ballotpedia has tracked 11 statewide measures in 2021 and 2022 proposed in response to COVID-19, including measures about executive emergency order authority, special legislative sessions, rights of religious services and organizations, rights of nursing home residents, and limits to voting policy changes.

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