OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma House of Representatives and the State Senate redistricting offices held a virtual town hall meeting on the legislative redistricting process Monday night.

The two virtual meetings – the first Dec. 21 – gave lawmakers and redistricting staff the opportunity to answer questions and take comments from the public in real time. They were part of a series of 20 meetings held statewide in December and January to gather public input. The meetings were open to anyone who wanted to attend.

The Oklahoma Senate will hold its final meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 28, in Owasso at the Tulsa Technology Center, Sycamore Room.

“We want the people of Oklahoma to have a say in who represents them both at the state Capitol and in the nation,” said State Rep. Ryan Martinez, R-Edmond, chair of the House Redistricting Committee. “These meetings gave us a chance to explain the redistricting process, which is constitutionally required, and to learn from the public their concerns and their ideas for how they would like to be represented moving forward.”

“These public meetings allowed transparency into this process, and the virtual format gave us the opportunity to hear from people who could not get to one of the in-person meetings,” said State Sen. Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle, chair of the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting. “I’m thankful to those who chose to participate in this process of making government work for the people.”

Every 10 years, the Legislature is constitutionally required to redraw Oklahoma’s legislative and congressional district boundaries to reflect population changes following the decennial census. Redistricting plans for state legislative districts must be completed by May 28, 2021, the constitutionally mandated conclusion of the first regular legislative session following the end of the census. Congressional redistricting has no deadline, but the Legislature aims to complete its work in time for the 2022 elections.

Meetings were livestreamed when possible, and video is archived. Previous House meetings can be viewed here: https://okhouse.gov/Video/Default.aspx and Senate meetings can be viewed here: https://oksenate.gov/live-chamber.

Anyone unable to attend the meeting may email comments to the House at [email protected], Senate at [email protected], or contact their state representative or state senator. All comments and public testimony will be shared with the committees.

Additional information about the redistricting process can be found here: https://okhouse.gov/Publications/Redistricting.aspx and here: https://oksenate.gov/redistricting.