Travis County officials outlined the next steps they will take after having received the interim Congressional and state House maps Feb. 28.

The new maps will be in place for use during the May 29 primary elections—a date that has not yet been confirmed as the official date but appears almost certain to take place.

The maps, which define one's elected representative based on geography, have been the subject of controversy since the state Legislature first drew new ones to match recent census data last year.

All actions going forward are based on the assumption that the interim maps will be accepted without further legal issues or major revisions, said Tiffany Seward, director of public information for the Tax Assessor–Collector Office & Voter Registrar.

The county has begun a roughly three-week process of entering new map information into its database, called a geographic information system, and auditing it for accuracy, Seward said.

Once all of the information has been inputted, county officials will match the maps to the existing local maps and ask the Commissioners Court to approve any changes to the court, justice of the peace or constable maps.

The county will send the new boundary lines to the U.S. Department of Justice for expedited approval and send out new yellow voter certificates.

"What we have now, however, is a lot of misinformation in the community," Voter Registration Director Delores Lopez said during the Feb. 28 Commissioners Court meeting. "Primarily, [the blue] voter certificates expired Dec. 31. We have voters thinking that they're not registered ... [and that] they're not going to be eligible to participate in the 2012 elections until they see their voter certificate."

Seward said that the county is confident that it will be able to send out the new certificates before early voting for the May 12 City of Austin election.

For more information, call 854-9473 or visit www.traviscountytax.org.