Redistricting plan becomes law: Governor Patrick signed the legislation passed by the House and Senate on Thursday. Photo: Governor's office

House and Senate lawmakers sent redrawn political maps to the governor’s desk this week. While most Bay State residents are unlikely to see a change in who their state senator or state representative is, the maps contain redrawn political boundaries for several of Dorchester’s lawmakers.

Population shifts over the last decade—documented by the U.S. Census—forced a legislative committee to redraw those districts. Several Dorchester districts shed residents, according to official counts, leading lawmakers to move and rearrange some voting precincts.

The proposed maps, which the committee released in late October, prompted some outcry in the Ashmont Hill area. Activists, who lived in Precincts 6 and 9 in Ward 17, started a petition to keep state Rep. Marty Walsh, saying they had a longer and stronger working relationship with him than with state Rep. Russell Holmes, a financial analyst who was elected in 2010.

But the maps, which increase the number of minority majority seats in both branches, sailed through both the Senate and the House with few changes.

Walsh, who would pick up a precinct in Quincy as part of his Thirteenth Suffolk District seat, said the committee’s goal of maintaining three black majority seats in Boston made returning the precincts to him a difficult task.

“Not everyone is going to be completely happy with everything,” Walsh added. Walsh, who has held the seat since 1997, has also praised Holmes, who has pledged to reach out to potential new residents in his Sixth Suffolk District.

On the Senate side, state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz lost a bid to keep Chinatown in her Second Suffolk District. While debating the proposed redistricting maps, the Senate declined to adopt Chang-Diaz’s amendment proposing the change.

But Chang-Diaz—whose district would also lose Beacon Hill and Back Bay, among other neighborhoods, while picking up some Dorchester precincts—praised the redistricting. “This process has been a process that really went a long way to increase the confidence communities of color have in this body, this Legislature and this building,” she said.

A minority voting rights group urged Gov. Deval Patrick to sign off on the proposed Senate and House maps.

“The Legislature today delivered on their promise to conduct a redistricting process that was a transparent and fair process,” Kevin Peterson, executive director of the New Democracy Coalition and co-chair of the Mass Black Empowerment Coalition, said in a statement.

Material from State House News Service was used in this report.

A DETAILED LOOK AT THE CHANGES
Following is a side-by-side comparison of the proposed changes, courtesy of the State House News Service.

State Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, Second Suffolk District
Existing District: Boston, ward 3, precincts 7 and 8, ward 4, precincts 1 to 6, inclusive, 8 and 9, ward 5, precincts 1, 4 to 8, inclusive, and 11, wards 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, ward 14, precincts 3, 6 to 11, inclusive, and ward 19, precincts 1 to 9, inclusive.

Proposed District: Boston, ward 3, precinct 7, ward 4, precincts 1, 3 and 4, ward 8, ward 9, ward 10, ward 11, ward 12, ward 13, precincts 1, 2 and 4, ward 14, precincts 1, 3, 6 to 10, inclusive, and 11, ward 18, precincts 7, 8, 11, 12, 14 and 22, and ward 19, precincts 1 to 9, inclusive, all in the county of Suffolk.

State Sen. Jack Hart, First Suffolk District
Existing Disctrict: Boston, ward 1, precinct 15, wards 6, 7 and 13, ward 14, precincts 1, 2, 4, 5 and 12 to 14, inclusive, wards 15, 16 and 17, ward 18, precincts 1 to 6, inclusive, and 21.

Proposed district: Boston, ward 1, precinct 15, ward 6, ward 7, ward 13, precincts 3, and 5 to 10, inclusive, ward 14, precincts 2, 4, 5 and 12 to 14, inclusive, ward 15, ward 16, ward 17, ward 18, precincts 1 to 6, inclusive, 13, 15 and 21, all in the county of Suffolk.

State Rep. Marty Walsh, Thirteenth Suffolk District
Existing District: precincts 7, 8, 9 and 10 of ward 13, precinct 6 of ward 15, precincts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10 of ward 16, and precincts 1, 3, 5, 6 and 9 of ward 17, of the city of Boston, in the county of Suffolk

Proposed District: precinct 3 of ward 3, of the city of Quincy, in the county of Norfolk; and precinct 9 of ward 7, precincts 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of ward 13, precinct 6 of ward 15, precincts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 12 of ward 16, and precincts 3 and 5 of ward 17, of the city of Boston, in the county of Suffolk

State Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry, Twelfth Suffolk District
Existing District: precincts 1 and 3 of the town of Milton, in the county of Norfolk; and precincts 8, 11 and 12 of ward 16, precincts 4, 12, 13, and 14, of Ward 17, and Precincts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 21 of Ward 18, of the city of Boston, in the county of Suffolk

Proposed District: precincts 1 and 2 of the town of Milton, in the county of Norfolk; and precincts 8 and 11 of ward 16, precincts 4, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of ward 17, precincts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 21 of ward 18, of the city of Boston, in the county of Suffolk

State Rep. Nick Collins, Fourth Suffolk District
Existing District: precinct 15 Harbor Islands of ward 1, all precincts of ward 6, precincts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 of ward 7, precinct 6 of ward 8, and precinct 3 of ward 13, of the city of Boston, in the county of Suffolk.

Proposed District: precinct 15 of ward 1, ward 6, precincts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 of ward 7, and precinct 3 of ward 13, of the city of Boston, in the county of Suffolk.

State Rep. Carlos Henriquez, Fifth Suffolk District
Existing district: precinct 10 of ward 7, precincts 5 and 7 of ward 8, precinct 6 of ward 12, precincts 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 of ward 113, precincts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9 of ward 15, precinct 1 of ward 16, and precinct 2 of ward 17, of the city of Boston in the county of Suffolk

Proposed District: precinct 10 of ward 7, precincts 5, 6, and 7 of ward 8, precinct 6 of ward 12, precincts 1, 2, 4 and 5 of ward 13, precinct 1 of ward 14, precincts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 and 9, of ward 15, and precincts 1 and 2 of ward 17, of the city of Boston, in the county of Suffolk

State Rep. Russell Holmes, Sixth Suffolk District
Existing District: precincts 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of ward 14, precincts 7, 8, 10 and 11 of ward 17, and precincts 7, 8 and 15 of ward 18, and precincts 11, 12 and 13 of ward 19, of the city of Boston, in the county of Suffolk

Proposed District: precincts 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of ward 14, precincts 6, 7, 8 and 9 of ward 17, precincts 7 and 8 of ward 18, and precinct 12 of ward 19, of the city of Boston, in the county of Suffolk.