House and Senate leaders say the newly drawn Oklahoma House districts approved by the Legislature earlier this year will have to be redrawn based on the latest census data.

The announcement by the House and Senate redistricting committee chairs was made after the release of U.S. Census Bureau data that shows population increases in urban and suburban parts of the state.

The Oklahoma Legislature approved new state House and Senate districts earlier this year, but lawmakers drew those districts based on U.S. Census Bureau estimates rather than the final data that was released earlier this month. “Statewide population in

“Statewide population in the final census data was generally within estimates, but some individual House districts did see deviation beyond the estimates,” said Rep. Ryan Martinez, R-Edmond, who chairs the House Redistricting Committee.

The Legislature was already set to return for a fall special session to redraw the state’s five congressional districts based on the latest estimates. Martinez said Oct. 10 is the deadline for the public to weigh in and submit proposed congressional redistricting maps.

The Oklahoma Legislature is tasked with redrawing state legislative and congressional district lines every 10 years, following the federal decennial census. Oklahoma has 101 House districts, 48 Senate districts and was assigned 5 congressional seats following federal reapportionment. According to the 2020 Census, the state’s resident population is 3,959,353, an increase 5.5 percent from 2010.

Due to population shifts within the state, this once-every-decade task is necessary to ensure equal representation will exist for equal numbers of people. The new district boundaries will be used to conduct state congressional and legislative elections beginning in 2022 through 2030.

The House redistricting process is led by the House State and Federal Redistricting Committee and its eight regional subcommittees. All 101 House members serve on a regional subcommittee based on county boundaries.