User Contributed Dictionary
Verb
redistricting- third-person singular of redistrict
Extensive Definition
The process known as redistricting in the
United
States and redistribution in many Commonwealth
countries is the changing of political borders. Often this means
changing electoral
district and constituency boundaries,
usually in response to periodic census results. This takes place
by law or constitution at least every
decade in most representative
democracy systems using first-past-the-post
or similar electoral systems to prevent geographic malapportionment.
Australia
In Australia,
redistributions are carried out by independent and non-partisan
commissioners in the Commonwealth
and each state or territory. The various electoral acts require the
population of each seat to be equal with certain strictly limited
variations.
South Africa
In South Africa, redistricting is carried out by the Municipal Demarcation Board.United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, four Boundary Commissions (one each for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) are responsible for reviewing the boundaries of Parliamentary constituencies, within guidelines set by Parliament.United States
In 36 states, the state legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to approval by the state governor. To reduce the role that legislative politics might play, 5 states (Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, New Jersey and Washington), carry out congressional redistricting by an independent, bipartisan commission. Iowa and Maine give independent bodies authority to propose redistricting plans, but preserve the role of legislatures to approve them. Seven states avoid the issue completely because their low populations qualify them for only a single representative for the entire state; these are Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming. The state constitutions and laws also mandate which body has responsibility over drawing the state legislature boundaries. In addition, those municipal governments that are elected on a district basis (as opposed to at-large) also redistrict.Each state has its own standards for creating
Congressional and legislative districts. In addition to equalizing
the population of districts and complying with Federal
requirements, criteria may include attempting to create compact,
contiguous districts, trying to keep political units and
communities within a single district, and avoiding the drawing of
boundaries for purposes of partisan advantage or incumbent
protection. In the states where the legislature (or another body
where a partisan majority is possible such as IL or OH) is in
charge of redistricting, the possibility of gerrymandering (the
deliberate manipulation of political boundaries for electoral
advantage, usually of incumbents or a specific
political
party) often makes the process very politically contentious,
especially when the two houses of the legislature, or the
legislature and the governor, are from different parties. The state
and federal court systems are often involved in resolving disputes
over Congressional and legislative redistricting when gridlock
prevents redistricting in a timely manner. In addition, the losers
to an adopted redistricting plan often challenge it in state and
federal courts.
Justice Department approval (which is known as preclearence) is
required under Section 5 of the
Voting Rights Act of 1965 in certain states that have had a
history of racial barriers to voting.
Partisan domination of state legislatures and
improved technology to design contiguous districts that pack
opponents into as few districts as possible have led to district
maps which are skewed towards one party. So many states (including
Texas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia and Maryland) have
succeeded in removing competition for most House seats in those
states that it has deadened competition for House seats nationally.
Other states (New York, New Jersey, California) have opted to
protect incumbents of both parties, again reducing the number of
competitive districts. The Supreme Court's ruling on the
Pennsylvania gerrymander in Vieth v.
Jubelirer http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/02-1580.ZS.html
effectively cemented the right of elected officials to choose their
constituents, and it is up to a small number of competitive
districts in a small number of states to determine majority control
of Congress, since each party has about 190 districts which have
very little likelihood of changing party control. The 2003
redistricting in Texas and the mid-decade redistricting in
Georgia established the precedent of allowing the majority party in
state governments to redraw the boundaries to favor the election of
the majority-party candidates in subsequent elections.
External links
- A guide to Boundary Delimitation a series of articles from the ACE Project
- Reapportionment and Redistricting in the U.S. — from the ACE Project
- Boundary Delimitation in the Legal Framework of Elections — from the International IDEA publication International Electoral Standards: Guidelines for reviewing the legal framework of elections
- Redistribution Overview from the Australian Electoral Commission
- Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission
- State redistricting links — list of links to state redistricting websites
- District sizes and other data from 1900-2000
- U.S. House of Representatives — District apportionment 1790 to 2000
- State by state breakdown of redistricting methods