Senate and House to hold joint redistricting training session for lawmakers

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma House of Representatives and the Oklahoma Senate plan a bipartisan, bicameral training session on redistricting for all members of the Legislature later this month.

As part of the Legislature’s transparency efforts surrounding redistricting, the public will be able to watch the training session via livestream on the Oklahoma Senate website (https://oksenate.gov/room-230).

Speakers from the National Conference of State Legislatures will conduct the training for lawmakers at 1:30 pm Oct. 12 in Room 230 at the state Capitol. Due to COVID-19 protocols, the NCSL trainers will conduct the training session remotely. In-person attendance by lawmakers will be limited, so lawmakers too will be participating in the training remotely and the session will be recorded and archived so that lawmakers and the public can watch the training session at a later date, if necessary.

“Holding a bipartisan training session for House and Senate members and allowing the public to livestream that meeting is just one of the many steps we are taking to ensure an open and transparent redistricting process. This training will provide lawmakers a chance to hear from national experts as we all prepare for the important job next year of redistricting,” said Senator Lonnie Paxton, R-Tuttle and chair of the Senate Select Committee on Redistricting.

“We want citizens to take ownership of redistricting and policymakers to be fully prepared to receive public input about the public’s districts. Transparency like this deepens public and policymaker understanding of the redistricting process, which will lead to better redistricting results for all Oklahomans,” said Rep. Ryan Martinez, R-Edmond, chairman of the House Redistricting Committee.

The redistricting leaders said each chamber is finalizing details of the redistricting process and expect to soon announce more details on public map submissions and a schedule of public town hall meetings to be held across Oklahoma.