The lines in the sand are now set in stone.

The U.S. Department of Justice approved Arizona’s congressional redistricting map, submitted by the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission on Feb. 9. The map will govern Arizona’s congressional elections for the next decade.

U.S. Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez wrote April 9 the new map conforms to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He also wrote the Department of Justice has no objections to the new map, which will first come into use for the Arizona congressional primary elections in August.

The map places Sedona, the Village of Oak Creek, Camp Verde and parts of Cornville in Congressional District 1, which stretches from the Utah border south to Pima County. It includes Flagstaff, Page, the Navajo Nation and parts of the suburbs of both Tucson and Phoenix.

Cottonwood, Jerome and parts of Cornville are in Congressional District 4, the so-called “River District,” which includes Kingman, Buckeye, Peoria, Florence and the outskirts of Yuma.

For the full story, see the Wednesday, May 9, edition of The Camp Verde Journal or the Cottonwood Journal Extra.