County Commissioners approved new election precinct boundaries during their June 13 meeting.

The move comes after the state redrew congressional and legislative districts.

Since 1973, every 10 years, Montana has had a five-member Districting and Apportionment Commission, under the Montana Constitution, that draws the congressional and legislative district boundaries using population data from the most recent U.S. Census, according to Tom Mital, the county GIS and addressing coordinator.

The newly created districts must have about the same number of people in them, Mital told commissioners.

Once the redistricting is complete, voting precincts in each county are reviewed to ensure they conform to the new legislative district boundaries, Mital said.

The governing body of each county establishes a convenient number of election precincts to equalize the number of electors in each precinct as much as possible, Mital said.

Commissioners cannot change precinct boundaries if it’s within 100 days of a primary election, or between the primary and general for that election, Mital told commissioners.

Mital presented a precinct map during the June 13 commission meeting that reflects the redistricting and precinct changes.

The county resolution, as adopted by commissioner on June 13, said that the new precinct boundaries are based on the 2020 Census population data, the Montana Secretary of State registered voter figures and the finalized districting and apportionment plan.

Mital told commissioners that the new precinct boundaries do not affect any city, school or special district boundaries.

No one spoke in opposition to the revised precinct boundaries.