AURORA | More than 22,000 Aurorans will be crossed by newly-drawn ward boundaries in 2023, after the City Council’s unanimous decision Monday to approve a new map of the city’s six wards.
Eleven voting precincts and part of a twelfth in the western half of Aurora were exchanged between wards in a shuffling process meant to ensure the city’s wards each contain approximately the same number of voters.
Around 10,300 residents south of Hampden Avenue between South Buckley Road and South Genoa Way were moved from Ward VI into Ward V. Another 2,400 or so people north of Hampden and west of the walking path that extends north from Blue Grama Grass Park were moved into Ward II.
Around 5,300 people east of South Buckley Road between East Arkansas Avenue and East Iliff Avenue were moved from Ward II into III and IV. An additional 1,000 or so living immediately to the south were moved from Ward II into Ward V.
Finally, more than 3,800 residents in the precinct bounded by Smith Road to the north, Chambers Road to the east, Colfax Avenue to the south and Sable Boulevard to the west were moved from Ward II into Ward I.
Aurora’s City Council includes a mayor and 10 council members — six of those 10 lawmakers are elected to represent a specific ward, while the remaining four are “at-large,” meaning they represent the city as a whole.
The city’s charter tasks the nonpartisan Aurora Election Commission with evaluating the boundaries of the city’s six wards prior to municipal elections held in years ending in “3” or “9.”
According to the charter, the six wards are supposed to be “contiguous and compact,” having “approximately the same number of residents” in each.
An interactive map displaying all of the changes — dubbed “Scenario 5” by the Aurora Election Commission — is available at bit.ly/3UPH9bk.
About how many residents will be in each of the Aurora 6 wards with the “Scenario 5” map?
Also, do you know how many residents are in each of Denver’s wards?