LINCOLN — Nebraska lawmakers will dig in Monday on a set of big, challenging math and geography problems.

The first one: Even out the populations of the state’s three congressional districts by taking 47,170 residents from the Omaha-centered 2nd District and 5,981 people from the Lincoln-based 1st District and adding that total to the already vast 3rd District.

Next, do the same for 49 state legislative districts, subtracting here, adding there and redrawing boundaries in a statewide puzzle until the districts are “as nearly equal in population as may be.”

Finally, repeat the process for six Supreme Court districts, eight University of Nebraska Board of Regents and State Board of Education districts and five Public Service Commission districts.

And complete the whole task within 30 days, with the two major political parties doing everything they can to jockey for advantage and engaged citizens on alert for political shenanigans.

Normally, that process would have been completed by this time of the year. But the coronavirus pandemic slowed the 2020 national headcount and delayed distribution of population data to the states. Nebraska and other states just received the official census numbers Aug. 12.

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