CHAMPAIGN, Ill., (WCIA) — On Tuesday night, Champaign’s City Council is talking about potentially changing up the district you vote in. That’s because there’s new census data, and there are more people living in the city.

Thomas Yu, Champaign’s City Attorney, said when there are population shifts, a law requires redistricting.

He said right now, people are not evenly distributed across the five districts, and it’s important to keep it balanced.

“Let’s say we have 14,000 in one district and 18,000 in another. Then, potentially, someone could argue that their vote doesn’t have the equal weight of another person in another district,” Yu said. “The concept and the law to protect people’s voting power, I think that’s pretty understated and is important. It’s why we’re going through all these steps now.”

The next steps include voting on a policy. If approved, people will be able to go online and use tools to map new boundaries. Then, the council will meet again to approve districts.

Yu hopes that approval can happen by September. That way, people have enough time to prepare for the 2025 election.