It’s a new video game that comes with a big prize.
It’s not streaming on Twitch or play on an Xbox console.
It’s on OLIS, which is not a gaming company, but the Oregon Legislative Information System.
The point of the game is to design a new political map of Oregon — a patchwork of blue and red.
The grand prize is political sway in Oregon for the next 10 years.
Normally this once-a-decade resizing of political districts has the legislature drawing maps, the legislature voting on maps and the governor signing off on maps. The public role is in hearings.
If all goes swimmingly — somewhat of a historical rarity — there is a new political atlas for the next election.
This year, mapmaking is going pro-am as amateur cartographers can get on the OLIS video game to draw their own political dream maps. They’ll get the same recently arrived, deeply detailed U.S. Census tract information and software program as lawmakers use.
“Oregonians can begin drawing new lines using the gold standard data,” said Shelly Boshart Davis, R-Albany, co-chair of the House Redistricting Committee.
The starting point is www.oregonlegislature.gov/redistricting. After creating an account, taking a tutorial, and preparing a lot of patience to deal with the wonky program, mapmaking can begin.
As a template, the current districts with a 37-22 Democratic majority in the House and 18-12 edge in the Senate can be called up for reference. So can the U.S. House map of the delegation’s four Democrats and one Republican.
A few valley curves, a straight-edge county line, following a river path, or running up against a mountain range will be challenging. But with enough effort and time, voila! your own version of the political landscape of Oregon.
The computer will tell you whether your maps meet geographical requirements and demographic goals.
One of the biggest tripping points is Oregon’s requirement that two House districts be completely “nested” inside each Senate District.
State directives say districts must be contiguous, of equal population, utilize existing geographical or political boundaries, not divide “communities of common interest” and be connected by transportation links.
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