Each of Florida's 28 United States Representatives, 40 State Senators, and 120 State Representatives are elected from political divisions called districts. The Seminole County Commission and School Board also have districts. Redistricting is the process for updating the maps for these various districts to balance the population after each census.

Every ten years, the United States census counts each person in the country. The Census Bureau uses this information to assign seats in the U.S. House of Representatives to each state. This is known as “reapportionment.” Since Florida’s population increased, we gained a seat in the House of Representatives, growing from 27 to 28 seats. Legislators must draw new district lines to add the new seat to Florida’s map of congressional districts.

Elected officials must also make sure that population is evenly distributed across all the districts. Since millions of people have moved, died, or been born since the last census, district lines for federal, state, and local offices must be redrawn so that each district includes the same number of people. This ensures that every voter has the same amount of power when casting their ballot.

• U.S. House of Representatives Districts
  The Florida Legislature is responsible for drawing new maps for Florida’s U.S. House of Representative districts.
• Florida House and Florida Senate Districts
  The Florida Legislature is responsible for drawing new maps for Florida Senate and Florida House districts.
• Seminole County Board of County Commissioners
  The Seminole County Board of County Commissioners is responsible for drawing new district maps for the five County Commissioner seats. 
• Seminole County School Board
  The Seminole County School Board districts run concurrent with the Seminole County Commission districts.
• Cities in Seminole County
  Each city that has districts is responsible for their own reapportionment. All cities in Seminole County, with the exception of Sanford, have representatives who are elected “at-large”, meaning all voters registered within the city limits can vote in each contest. The city of Sanford has single member representation.
• Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Office
  Our office does not draw district lines. However, we do play a part in the redistricting process. Once the new districts are drawn, we must draw new precinct lines. We update the precinct boundaries so that they align with the new district maps for federal, state, and local offices. We then assign each voter to the precinct that includes their address. This process is known as “reprecincting.”
  
  Each precinct has an associated Election Day polling place. Since precincts are changing, some polling places will change as well. Starting with the 2022 Primary Election, some voters will have new Election Day polling places.

Redistricting is a lengthy process. View the timeline below for a summary of key dates. Note that this timeline is tentative and subject to change depending on litigation or other factors.

You can view information about the 2020 U.S. Census from the United States Census Bureau website.

You can learn more about U.S. House, Florida Senate, and Florida House redistricting by visiting the Florida Legislature’s Redistricting website.

You can learn more about Seminole County Commission redistricting by visiting the Seminole County Redistricting page.

You can view current district maps on the Seminole County GIS.

• US Constitution
  Article I, Section 2, U.S. Constitution  - Mandates that apportionment of representatives among the states must be conducted every 10 years. Also empowers congress to conduct the census.

• Federal Law
  Voting Rights Act of 1965 – Prohibits voting practices and procedures, including redistricting, which discriminate based on race, color, or membership in a language minority group.
• Florida Constitution
  Article III, Section 16 - Requires the Florida Legislature to divide the state into 30 to 40 contiguous senatorial districts and 80 to 120 contiguous house districts.
  
  Article III, Sections 20 & 21 - Prohibits line-drawing that intentionally favors or disfavors a political party or an incumbent.
  
  Article VIII, Section 1(e) – Sets the size of county commissions at five or seven members and requires redistricting after each census. Districts must be of contiguous territory and nearly equal population.
  
  Article IX, Section 4(a) – Creates school boards and districts.
• Florida Statutes
  Section 11.031 – Requires that Florida Legislature exclusively use data from the U.S. Census Bureau to redraw districts.
  
  Section 124.01 – Sets standards for county commissioner districts.
  
  Section 1001.36 – Sets standards for school board districts.