Red Wing will have fewer polling places this election after redistricting

Some areas of town will be shifting wards or precincts starting this summer.

The City Council unanimously approved new district and precinct boundaries for Red Wing at its meeting Monday after leaving time for a public hearing where no one spoke.

Staff has been working to redraw the city lines since new state and congressional districts were announced in late February. The city had an April 3 deadline to adopt its new ward and precinct boundaries, Planning Director Brian Peterson said.

The approved plan combines some earlier drafts, moving a portion the fairgrounds area from Ward 1 to Ward 2 and shifting an area of town south of 12th Street between the Athletic Field and Oakwood Cemetery to Ward 4.

The plan also divides each ward into two precincts instead of the current three. This change will simplify the voting process and allow the city to provide more effective polling places, Peterson said. It also will save the city money.

The council established polling places in the plan. They will be as follows:

• Ward 1, Precinct 1: Public Works Building, 229 Tyler Road North

• Ward 1, Precinct 2: Burnside Elementary School, 5001 Learning Lane

•Ward 2, Precinct 1: Red Wing Public Library, 225 East Ave.

•Ward 2, Precinct 2: First Covenant Church, 2302 Twin Bluff Road

•Ward 3, Precinct 1: Holy Family Hall, Church of St. Joseph, 223 W. Seventh St.

•Ward 3, Precinct 2: Minnesota State College–Southeast Technical, 308 Pioneer Road

•Ward 4, Precinct 1: Colvill Courtyard, 515 Nymphara Lane

•Ward 4, Precinct 2: Concordia Lutheran Church, 1805 Bush St.

The change will take effect starting with the August primary election.

Redistricting often happens after a census, since districts need to have roughly the same number of people. This will be the first local election since the 2010 census, the results of which were released in 2011.

In Red Wing, the charter states that redistricting also is necessary when the largest ward’s population is higher than the smallest ward’s by more than 10 percent. According to the 2010 census, Ward 1 exceeded Ward 4 by nearly 17 percent.

To remedy population shifts, Wards 1 and 3 needed to lose people, while the 2nd and 4th Wards need larger populations.

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