By Leann Schenke

DOVER — Without much fanfare, Kent County Levy Court approved its new voting districts during a Tuesday meeting.

No public comment was given during the hearing held prior to the decision.

The process of redistricting began in August, when the U.S. Census Bureau released its 2020 data, showing that Kent County grew by nearly 20,000 people over a 10-year period.

In anticipation of that data, Levy Court commissioners appointed a seven-member Redistricting Commission on July 27. Members were chairperson Temple Carter, vice chairperson Matthew Bucher, Jackie McCabe, Glenn Gauvry, Mike Devers, Margaret M. Dean and Paul Flemming.

Given that the majority of growth happened in the county’s 1st District — which previously covered the northernmost area of the county, from the Maryland border to the Delaware Bay — the commission proposed adjusting the size of the district to more evenly distribute the amount of voters in other areas.

The 1st District is now smaller in geographic size, no longer extending to the Maryland border but stopping near Kenton.

Other districts saw changes, too, due to that alteration:

• The 6th District — Kent County’s most rural area, which extended along the western half of the county from the New Castle County border to Sussex County — picked up the western portion of the 1st District from Kenton north to near Clayton.
• The 2nd District now extends up to Kenton. The town of Kenton remains in the 1st District, however.
• The 3rd District now includes all of Cheswold.
• The Chestnut Run area moved from the 4th District to the 5th District.

The population in the 1st District is now just under 29,700. It was followed in growth by the 4th District, which covers the southeastern portion of Kent County, with its population of nearly 28,000.

The proposed maps were introduced during an Oct. 26 meeting. On Nov. 2, County Administrator Michael Petit de Mange gave a presentation that detailed the potential changes to the county’s voting districts.