After nearly ten years of growth, the Madison City Council approved new Council voting districts, as a measure to keep population in each of the seven districts as balanced as possible. The newly approved map still must be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice at such time it will be effective. Approval is expected prior to the spring 2012 primaries. The previous Council districts were approved in 2003 after getting the results of the decennial census; the new boundaries are based on the data recently received from the 2010 census, recording Madison’s population as 42,938. Population in each of the new districts is ideally 6,125 and the final approved redistricting map results a low deviation from that ideal of 2.4%. Polling places are currently being secured and coordinated with both Madison and Limestone Counties. Of note, for the first time, Madison will have two council member districts representing areas of Limestone County where continued growth is expected.