POCAHONTAS COUNTY IS now divided – by the results of the 2020 Census. As a result of decreasing population, the West Virginia Legislature was tasked with drawing new district lines prior to the 2022 off-year election. District lines are redrawn every 10 years following completion of the census to comply with a federal law that stipulates that districts must have nearly equal populations. Pocahontas County had been in the 43rd Delegate District, but is now divided between Districts 46 and 66. The West Virginia Constitution requires that state Senate districts be “compact, contiguous, and bounded by county lines where doing so is not otherwise unlawful.” There are no such requirements in place for congressional or House of Delegate districts. In next week’s edition of The Pocahontas Times, we will report on how each of the county’s precincts will be affected by these changes.
