When it comes to voting in June and November, voters could find themselves in a different district for the Maine House of Representatives, Maine Senate or York County Commissioners.

Reapportionment has brought some changes to the York County landscape, well ahead of the June 2022 primaries.

One such district is House 9, which currently includes Kennebunkport and parts of Biddeford and Kennebunk. The district will be called House 134, and still include those communities, — but the ‘part of Kennebunk’ will be a bit larger.

Reapportionment is an exercise that takes place every 10 years, in response to population changes in the census. Reapportionment commission members are tasked with attempting to ensure the population of the districts is equal or near equal; that the districts be a “functional contiguous and compact territory,” defined as one that minimizes impediments to travel within the district; and commissioners must consider geographic size, among other considerations.

Boundaries for Maine House and Senate districts, County Commission districts and Congressional districts were reviewed and adjusted by a bipartisan apportionment commission, approved by a two-thirds vote of the Legislature, and signed into law by Gov. Janet Mills on Sept. 29. The changes were made based on data from the 2020 U.S. census.

“I applaud Maine’s Apportionment Commission, especially its chair, former Maine Supreme Judicial Court Justice Donald Alexander, as well as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle for preparing and approving new maps that fulfill our commitment to making sure Maine people are equally and fairly represented in their government,” said Mills in a prepared statement. “To have done so without rancor and partisanship and under a constrained timeline is something Maine people can be proud of.”

There are changes in all of the Maine Senate districts in York County. Based on Maine’s 1.36 million population. The median or ideal district was determined to have a population of 38,925. Statewide, the Senate districts range in population from a low of 37,121 to a high of 40,798.

District 32 is currently composed of Biddeford, Alfred, Arundel, Dayton, Kennebunkport  and Lyman. That changes in 2022 when the district drops Alfred and Kennebunkport, picks up Hollis and retains Biddeford, Arundel, Lyman and Dayton.

Senate 32 will be an open seat in 2022. The district is currently represented by Democrat Susan Deschambault of Biddeford, who is in her last term.

There are changes in Senate 31 as well. Currently composed of Saco, Old Orchard Beach, Hollis, Limington and part of Buxton, the newly constituted district will include Saco, Old Orchard Beach, and all of Buxton, dropping Hollis and Limington. Sen. Donna Bailey, D-Saco, is serving her first term in Senate 31 and previously represented Saco in the Maine House.

Senate 34, which currently includes Kennebunk, Wells, Acton, Lebanon, North Berwick and part of Berwick, also has changes. The district will pick up  all of Berwick, but will drop the towns of Acton and Lebanon.

Senate 33’s new boundaries will include Alfred, Lebanon, Sanford and Waterboro, while Senate 35 will include Eliot, Kittery, Ogunquit, South Berwick and York.

The House districts in York County will have different numbers — something that also happens every 10 years — and some districts will have different compositions than they do currently.

Based on Maine’s 1.36 million population, the median district statewide was determined to have a population of 9,022. In York County, the district with the lowest deviation from the median, House 130, had a population of 8,715 and was down 3.41 percent from the median. The largest, House 135, had a population of 9,432, 4.81 percent higher than the median.

Saco has two Maine House districts, numbered 129 and 130.

Old Orchard Beach is House 131.

Biddeford has districts 132, 133 and part of district 134.

In addition to part of Biddeford, House 134 includes Kennebunkport and parts of Kennebunk. Rep. Traci Gere, who represents District 9, said the newly constituted district will include a bit more of Kennebunk than District 9 does.

“The current House District 9 includes Kennebunk from the south side of Heath Road to the ocean,” said Gere in an email. “The new district adds a small triangle of Kennebunk, capturing most of the north side of Heath Road and then shooting up to connect with Sea Road a little south of the dog park.”

House 135 includes part of Kennebunk.

House 136 includes Alfred and parts of Lyman and Waterboro; House 137, parts of Buxton and Hollis; House 138, Cornish, Limington and parts of Buxton and Hollis; House 139 Limerick, Parsonsfield and part of Waterboro; and House 140, Arundel, Dayton and part of Lyman.

House 141 includes Newfield, Shapleigh and parts of Sanford; House 142 and 143 each include part of Sanford; House 144, Acton and Lebanon; House 145, part of Wells; House 146, Ogunquit and parts of Wells and York; House 147, part of York; House 148, Berwick and part of North Berwick; House 149, parts of both North Berwick and South Berwick; House 150 Eliot and parts of South Berwick and Kittery; and House 151, part of Kittery.

In 2022, the composition of some of the five York County Commissioner districts have changed, others remain the same. Based on a 2020 York County population of  211,972, the median  district population is 42,394, according to the reapportionment commission.

District 1 includes Acton, Berwick, Cornish, Lebanon, Limington, Newfield, North Berwick, Parsonsfield, Shapleigh and South Berwick.

District 2 includes Arundel, Biddeford, Kennebunk and Kennebunkport.

District 3 consists of Saco, Buxton, Hollis and Old Orchard Beach.

District 4 includes Alfred, Dayton, Limerick, Lyman, Sanford and Waterboro

District 5 includes Eliot, Kittery, Ogunquit, Wells and York.

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