Opinion ID: 1884792
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Portland Districts, Districts 8 and 9

Text: [¶ 9] Portland is the only municipality that is larger in population than a single district. [2] It must by necessity be split into two districts, one of which must be wholly contained within Portland. ME. CONST. art. IV, pt. 1, § 2; art. IV, pt. 2, § 2. The Court established a roughly north-south line to accomplish that goal, taking into account requests from the public filed earlier with the Court, including a request that the City of South Portland not be placed into a district with the City of Portland. [¶ 10] The City of Portland, while not objecting to the external boundaries of the two Portland districts, has represented that their precinct lines would be more easily administered if the court adopted an east-west line. The Mayor of the City of Portland also represented that a change from the tradition of an east-west line would be cumbersome and expensive for the city. A proposal was presented at the public hearing on June 23 that would maintain the external boundaries of the two Portland districts established by the Court's proposal, but would divide the city along an east-west axis. The proposal has a slightly better population variance than the Court's proposal and creates a compact and contiguous configuration. The suggestion to divide Portland along an east-west axis was accepted because: (a) It brings the populations of Districts 8 and 9 into nearly total parity; (b) It creates compact and contiguous districts; (c) It does not change the external boundaries of the districts and does not affect any districts other than Districts 8 and 9; and (d) It reduces the prospects of additional costs and administrative difficulties for the City of Portland.