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Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State <br /> 2021 Redistricting Guide <br /> 17 <br />• refers to relatively permanent features, not features which tend to change over time such as precincts. <br />When a ward redistricting plan is approved, any reference to a municipal or precinct boundary refers to that boundary <br />on the day the plan is approved. It is not uncommon for municipal boundaries to change. A metes and bounds <br />description may help to reinforce that when an annexation has occurred, a change in precincts and wards also has <br />occurred. <br />3.3.4 Public involvement <br />It is recommended that cities solicit public involvement in the redistricting process. Public involvement may include <br />multiple meetings during which the council considers a variety of redistricting plans, including those submitted by <br />members of the public. <br />3.3.5 Dates for establishing wards <br />3.3.5.1 Cities with council members elected by ward <br />A city may not redistrict its wards before the state legislative redistricting plan has been adopted, except for first class <br />cities electing council members by ward in 2021--see below for that situation. Once the state legislative districting has <br />occurred, the city must redistrict its wards, along with its precincts, within 60 days of legislative redistricting or by March <br />29, 2022, whichever comes first. (M.S. 204B.135 subd. 1) <br />An ordinance establishing new ward boundaries becomes effective on August 9, 2022, the date of the state primary <br />election. (M.S. 205.84 subd. 2) <br />If the state legislative redistricting plan is adopted and/or any court challenges are resolved less than 19 weeks before <br />the state primary in a year ending in two (after March 29 in 2022), there are alternate dates and procedures for <br />redistricting or reestablishing local government elective districts. For more information on the alternate dates and <br />procedures refer to Appendix A or contact the Elections Division of the Secretary of State’s Office. <br />3.3.5.2 First class cities with council members elected by ward in 2021 <br />First class cities that will elect their council members by ward in 2021 may reestablish their ward boundaries no later <br />than 14 days before the start of candidate filing. For cities with a primary possible, the filing period opens May 18, 2021, <br />so the deadline is May 4, 2021. For cities without a primary possible, the filing period opens July 27, 2021, so the <br />deadline is July 13, 2021. The new ward boundaries take effect on the date of the municipal primary, August 10, 2021. In <br />this circumstance, precinct boundaries may be reestablished within four weeks of the adoption of ward boundaries. The <br />ward boundaries may be modified after the legislature has been redistricted for the purpose of establishing precinct <br />boundaries. (M.S. 204B.135, subd. 1; 204B.14, subd. 3(c); 205.84) <br />3.4 Giving notice <br />3.4.1 Publish and post ward plan <br />While it is not specifically required to publish or post ward redistricting plans it is a good practice to publish and post <br />plans to make them as widely available to the public as possible. If precincts are changed in the course of redistricting <br />ward boundaries, follow precinct notification guidelines. <br />3.4.2 Notification of county and state <br />In most cases, a change in ward boundaries will also require a change in precinct boundaries, which requires notification <br />of the county auditor and secretary of state. Cities that incorporate ward designations into their precinct names (e.g. <br />“Ward 1 Precinct 1”) do not need to do any additional notification of their ward boundaries. In situations where precinct <br />names do not reference the ward to which they belong, the city clerk should provide the county auditor with <br />information about which precincts are in which wards. (M.S. 204B.14, subd. 5)