By Glenn Rolfe

GEORGETOWN — Concern has surfaced through redistricting linked to population growth that some eligible Sussex County voters — and potential County Council candidates — will miss out on an election cycle.

Population increases since the 2010 census in southern Sussex County means that districts 4 and 5 will shrink rather dramatically geographically. With that shrinkage, many residents will be redrawn into other districts to meet the redistricting requirement of allowable plus/minus to the average 47,475 residents.

In the 2020 election, council districts 1, 2 and 3 were up for election for four-year terms. Residents in districts 4 and 5 did not vote last November but will in 2022. However, residents redrawn out of districts 4 and 5 and placed in districts 1, 2 or 3 will not get to vote in the 2022 general election.

“You know how the population increased in districts 4 and 5. Even with the least changes in the redistricting, geographically, districts 4 and 5 will shrink. So in the area that has shrunk, people will not be able to vote next year. They are no longer in 4 or 5,” said Angola resident Eul Lee.

“People will be assigned to 1, 2 or 3. Their councilperson will not be the ones they voted for … . Now, they are in 1, 2 or 3 and will not get to vote in 2022 because it’s for districts 4 and 5.”

Currently, District 1 includes the Seaford area, west to Maryland, while District 2 covers Georgetown and Greenwood and District 3 the northeastern coastal region, including Ellendale, Milton and Lewes. District 4 includes the Del. 24/26 coastal corridors, and District 5 spans the southern border with Maryland, from Delmar to South Bethany.

Sussex County Council election cycles are laid out in Title 9, Section 7002 of the Delaware Code.

And nothing in state code or its subsections “authorizes a deviation from that schedule,” said county attorney J. Everett Moore Jr., who is heading Sussex’s redistricting process.
“Subsection ‘v’ specifically addresses redistricting and is silent to alerting … or changing that established procedure,” said Mr. Moore. “Furthermore, I have checked with our county counterparts in the other two counties, and they, too, do not have elections for all County Council persons or commissioners following redistricting. They, too, follow the same procedure that we do.”

Milton resident Keith Steck said the district maps will be changing dramatically.

“To me, the issue is the district lines are going to look very different than they did before,” he said. “The population is very different than it was 10 years ago. And every 10 years, this should be a standard practice. When you look at the existing lines, they are going to be substantially different in the new County Council districts because of the population differences.

“I think the fair thing is to just have a five-way election (in 2022). And yes, I realize that that might mean that they need to get the state approval. Why wouldn’t they want that for the citizens of Sussex County?”

The problem, Ms. Lee said, is rooted in the state code, which dates back to the 1970s.
Title 9, Section 7002 states that, beginning in 1972, council members in districts 1, 2 and 3 shall be elected to four-year terms, while council members in districts 4 and 5 shall be elected to four-year terms starting in 1974.

“The state defined the terms that way,” said Ms. Lee. “In Sussex County, there is a problem. Because the population grows so much, the geographical region will have to be reduced, and people will fall out. Depending on where (districts) 4 and 5 lose, the people in those areas will be lost in the next election. That’s not a county problem. It is the state that made the law. And every 10 years, the same problem can happen.

“And also, if there was somebody getting ready to run for a position in 2022, they are out of luck.”

A solution is to change state code so that County Council election cycles match those of the Delaware Senate. But that would require state legislature approval.

“The only way that I think that would be considered is if Sussex County government made that request,” said Rep. Danny Short, R-Seaford, the House minority leader. “And I don’t see any representative from Sussex County on their own trying to pass that change legislatively. That’s the way it works.”

Rep. Short noted that this fallout from redistricting is nothing new.

“What has happened over the last 10 years is not any secret. We knew about it,” he said. “It happens every 10 years. All of a sudden, somebody is upset.”

Mr. Moore stressed that November 2020 elections held for County Council districts 1, 2 and 3 were for four-year terms.

“They can’t just be now, after the fact, cut in half,” he said. “What it would have to be is possibly the legislature in the future could say: Next 10 years from now, we could go ahead and do (four years, four years, two years), … like the Senate. But it can’t happen this time.”

Mr. Moore, who initially outlined the county redistricting process Nov. 9, provided an update at County Council’s Wednesday meeting. He noted that comments received inquired about the appointment of a redistricting commission for Sussex County.

“The Delaware Code gave that directive to the other counties but not to Sussex. Therefore, the council and only the council or its designee has the authority to draft the redistricting,” he explained.

Sussex redistricting update, schedule

By federal law, following each 10-year census, the county must adjust its maps through a redistricting process designed to equally distribute the population among the five councilmanic districts.

Based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 data for Delaware, Sussex County’s population increased more than 20% between 2010-20, from 197,145 residents to 237,378 residents.
Thus, each of the newly drawn council districts would have an average of 47,475 residents. There is some leeway: Each district must be within 5% plus or minus of that average, ranging from no fewer than 45,101 residents and no more than 49,849 residents.

Redistricting must adhere to a series of guidelines. Besides keeping the population number within the acceptable deviation of the average, efforts are to be made in keeping together communities of interest, following rivers, streams and municipality boundaries, maintaining historic trends and consideration of state election polling places.

Redistricting is not complete, Mr. Moore said. The process will take into consideration input and maps submitted, including a proposal by the League of Women Voters.

“The League of Women Voters submitted a map for our review. Many have commented favorably on the (LWV) map and suggested that we use it as a basis for drawing districts. Others submitted are either deviations from our current districts or from the League of Women Voters’ maps and gave reason for their potential changes. I have studied those maps, and I also find much merit in their proposal,” he said.

“I am in the process of finalizing my draft maps and intend to have those available next week to share with the public. This was not a window-dressing process. We are looking very seriously at those comments.”

Following a process initiated 10 years ago, Mr. Moore said that, after he brings the maps forward, “we’re going to give the public a chance to look at those, and council. They will be made public.”

Ordinance introduction is anticipated in early January, probably at County Council’s first or second meeting of the new year.

“At that point, it will be scheduled for a public hearing,” Mr. Moore said. “Because of scheduling issues, I would anticipate that occurring probably the first or second week of February and then be complete.”