Elections are the cornerstone of a representative democracy. Redistricting ensures that citizens have:Equal representation in the U.S. House of Representatives, State Senate, and State HouseEqual oppo

Elections are the cornerstone of a representative democracy. Redistricting ensures that citizens have:Equal representation in the U.S. House of Representatives, State Senate, and State HouseEqual opportunities to elect representatives they chooseReapportionment vs. RedistrictingThe U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 2 - establishes reapportionment based on a national census conducted every 10 years for allocating U.S. House of Representatives. The first census was taken in 1790.Apportionment or Reapportionment refers to the allocation of seats among units, such as Congressional seats among the states or Legislative seats among the counties.The U.S. Constitution also requires states to periodically redraw electoral district lines to account for population shifts.Redistricting is the process of adjusting electoral district boundaries, usually in response to census results. District boundaries determine which voters can participate in electing a representative.The Role of the LegislatureThe Legislature's role in redistricting is to redraw district lines with respect to the ideal populations for each district and the number of State Senate seats and State House seats based on the U.S. Census population statistics for the State of Florida.The Role of the Supervisor of ElectionsPart of the Supervisor of Elections' role in redistricting is to review and provide suggestions for the county's Voting Tabulation Districts to the Senate Committee on Reapportionment.The Supervisor redraws precinct lines within all districts throughout the county as needed and submits all changes to the Board of County Commissioners for approval.The Supervisor is required to notify the Secretary of State within 30 days of any precinct changes and furnish a map with the precinct boundaries.2026Pursuant to special redistricting enacted by the state, and effective with the signing of HB 1D, congressional district boundaries in Florida have been changed. Congressional Districts 13, 16 (formerly districts 13, 14)Various maps displaying the new districts are available from the state. 2022Effective with elections in 2022, Florida gets 28 representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives, an increase of one from last decade. Two U.S. Senators represent the entire state.Congressional Districts 13, 14 (formerly districts 12, 13)State Senate Districts 16, 18, 21 (formerly districts 16, 19, 24)State House Districts 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62 (formally districts 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70)Efforts to maintain continuity resulted in:51% of the precincts retained the same boundaries90% of voters continued to vote at their same polling placesOnly 15 precincts were consolidated, resulting in 286 precincts, down from 3012016The Supervisor of Elections was required to redraw precinct lines due to special redistricting in 2016. Pinellas County is now represented by two U.S. Congressional districts. Additionally, all three State Senate district boundaries changed and all State Senate districts were assigned new numbers.Congressional Districts 12, 13 (formerly districts 12, 13, 14)State Senate Districts 16, 19, 24 (formerly districts 19, 20, 22)Efforts to maintain continuity resulted in:89% of the precincts retained the same boundaries98.6% of voters continued to vote at their same polling placesThe addition of two precincts, increasing the total from 299 to 3012012New county precinct lines were approved in May 2022 by the Pinellas County Commissioners.Efforts to maintain continuity resulted in the following:80% of voters continued to vote at their same polling places32% (122) of the precincts had no boundary changesNumber of polling places reduced from 238 to 234Number of precincts reduced from 376 to 299, largely by combining precincts that already voted at the same polling places