AUGUSTA – Information about newly apportioned congressional and legislative districts is available online and by request from the state’s Elections Division.

Written boundary descriptions of Maine’s two congressional and 186 legislative districts, along with a copy of the apportionment plans and an overview of the apportionment process, may be found at http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/apport/apport.htm, or by calling 624-7650.

Copies of individual district maps are available in paper form by contacting the Elections Division. They will be added to the Web site later this month.

Large maps outlining the entire state’s congressional and legislative districts are also expected to be available in the coming weeks.

Apportionment, also known as redistricting, is the process of creating voting districts for the purpose of organizing elections. Because a state’s population can grow, shrink or shift, voting districts are adjusted or redrawn every 10 years in Maine.

In general, the purpose is to ensure that all districts contain approximately the same number of people, so all citizens have equal representation in government.

As a result of this new apportionment for the 2004 elections, every district for the Maine House of Representatives will have about 8,443 residents.

Each district for the state Senate will have approximately 36,426 residents. Maine’s two Congressional districts will each have about 637,462 residents.

In keeping with statutory requirements, the secretary of state has provided the applicable maps and district boundary descriptions to municipal clerks, so they may revise their voting lists and prepare to conduct elections using the new districts.