In a public hearing Jan. 3, the Board of County Commissioners adopted a resolution presented by the Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder to approve newly-drawn precinct boundaries for the 2012 Primary and Presidential Elections in Jefferson County. The new precinct boundaries were drawn to conform to changes to Congressional, State Senate and State House boundaries adopted by the Colorado Supreme Court last month.

"Facing extremely tight timelines, I am very proud of the work our team has accomplished in realigning our precincts so we are ready for the 2012 election season," said Clerk and Recorder Pam Anderson. "Between the final approval of the new boundaries by the Supreme Court in mid-December and the upcoming precinct caucuses in February and March, we had fifteen business days to get this work done and it's a credit to the professionalism and dedication of Jefferson County staff."

Congressional Redistricting and State Legislative Reapportionment occur every 10 years in response to the data collected in the U.S. Census. Bi-partisan commissions are charged with drawing new boundaries based on constitutional criteria. Once the new boundaries are adopted, counties are then required to redraw precinct lines accordingly.

In addition to redrawing precinct boundaries, Jefferson County officials renumbered precincts sequentially as a more sensible approach for voters. Smaller precincts were also combined, reducing the overall number of precincts in Jefferson County from 324 to 260, which will in turn reduce taxpayer expense in the conduct of the upcoming 2012 elections.

"We wanted to take this opportunity to simplify our precinct boundaries and numbering system in advance of what will be a complicated election cycle," said Anderson. "While we are pleased that these changes will reduce the cost of conducting elections in our county, the most important aspect is that this move will provide clarity for our voters as well," she added.

Now that the new precinct boundaries have been approved, county elections staff will modify the Jefferson County voter registration records, placing each registered voter in his or her appropriate precinct. Beginning January 10, 2012, voters who would like to know more about changes to their legislative district or precincts can use the Voter Lookup tool on the Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder's website at www.votejeffco.com or contact the Elections Division by phone at (303) 271-8111.

Additionally, the Clerk and Recorder's Office will send mailings to each registered voter in advance of the 2012 Primary and General elections with information about legislative districts, precinct boundaries and other election-related information.

"The commissioners would like to thank the Clerk and Recorder Pam Anderson and her election staff along with the county's Information Technology GIS team for all the dedication and hard work that they all put in to accomplish this very important and necessary task in such a short time," said BCC Chair Faye Griffin.