District Changes Coming to Bellingham Note from the Town Clerk’s Office
At the beginning of each new decade a census is taken throughout the United States to determine population shifts, growth, loss of population, etc. for each state. Those population changes determine, at the federal level, the number of Congressional Districts in each state, and the Congressional District (CD) lines based on population distribution (each Congressional District should have approximately the same number of residents). At the state level, State Senate and State Representative Districts are reviewed to determine whether population shifts have necessitated adjustments to district lines. Continuing on to the municipal level, precinct lines are reviewed to ensure that all precincts have approximately the same number of people (within a 5% margin). If not, precinct lines need to be adjusted. As a result of the 2020 US Census, Bellingham experienced varying degrees of changes in each area.
US Congressional District
For the past decade, Bellingham has been a “split” community, as it contained two Congressional Districts: CD4 in the north end of town, and CD2 in the far south. Beginning in 2022, Bellingham will be “unified” into CD4. The reason for the change will be explained below in the Redistricting/Re-Precincting section of this announcement. The important thing to remember is that all Bellingham precincts will be in CD4. The incumbent Congressman for all of Bellingham will be Jake Auchincloss.
State Legislative District – State Representative
Bellingham has been a part of the 8th Worcester District for more than a decade, and will continue to be part of said district. However, there is a change to the district in that a precinct in Uxbridge has been removed, and a precinct in Medway has been added. Therefore, as of 2022, the entire towns of Bellingham, Blackstone, Millville, along with most of Uxbridge and a portion of Medway will comprise the 8th Worcester District. Our incumbent State Representative is Michael Soter.
State Senate District
For more than a decade, Bellingham has been the only Norfolk County town in the Worcester and Norfolk Senate District. As of the 2022 elections, Bellingham will be in a new district, together with towns from Norfolk, Worcester and Middlesex. Our incumbent State Senator will no longer be Ryan Fattman. The incumbent for the new district is Rebecca Rausch.
Bellingham Redistricting/Re-Precincting
As a result of the 2010 US Census, it was determined that CD2 required additional residents to be consistent population-wise with all other Congressional Districts in the State. Precinct 5 in Bellingham joined CD2, and a new, small district “4A” was carved out to be added to CD2. Since most of Precinct 4A’s residents had previously been part of Precinct 4, the result was that Precinct 4 was left as a relatively underpopulated precinct. With the recent redistricting/re-precincting, Precinct 4A has been dissolved back into Precinct 4. Some other changes have also been made to keep streets/neighborhoods more cohesive and hopefully lessen confusion. Any residents whose precinct has changed will receive a letter before the May Local Elections, apprising them of a change in their precinct. We will continue to have registrars at the polls to help direct people to their respective precincts.
(NOTE: You cannot necessarily rely on trash pick-up day to determine voting precinct.)
If you have any questions, please email the Town Clerk at [email protected]
