How do most states draw legislative district lines?
Critical Analysis
Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, your big brain, the information provided and any links below:
In most states, the state legislature has authority over the drawing and approval of maps. Based on the data from the visual above, how many states have independent redistricting commissions?
Does your state have an independent redistricting commission?
Describe one geographical pattern from the visual above.
By mandate of Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, every ten years the U.S. Census is taken to determine the population of the nation and of each state. Those numbers are used to determine the number of Congressional districts each state gets. This is called reapportionment. Although it still has the most congressional districts (52), for the first time in the state’s history, California lost congressional districts after the 2020 census. Draw a conclusion about California’s population based on the information above.
Explain why Alaska, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Delaware do not and cannot have independent redistricting commissions?
After states receive their total number of congressional seats they then get to redistrict (draw lines on a map to divide up their state) to determine where those seats go. This is called redistricting. Why does reapportionment necessarily need to happen before redistricting can happen?
Article I, section 4 of the U.S. Constitution mandates that, “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof;” According to this, what body in each state is in charge of redistricting?
In order to better represent the will of the people, some state legislatures choose to allow independent redistricting commissions draw their state district lines. Under an independent commission, legislators may have an opportunity to shape the pool of candidates under consideration, but some combination of random draw and selections by nonpartisan staff or judges ensures that everyday citizens decide congressional lines, instead of politicians. The independent commissions and their nonpartisan staff drafted each plan and sought feedback from the public before choosing a final map. Explain how independent commissions impact elections.
How does the way Americans elect the president differ from how they elect legislators?
The way American’s draw their legislative district is not how it’s done in most other places. In more than two-thirds of the democracies that heavily rely on single-member districts (29 of 42), special commissions or national election agencies have primary responsibility for drawing the lines. Lawmakers’ role, if any, is limited. Do you think the U.S. would be more democratic if we had an independent national election agency draw all the U.S. legislative districts?
Write and Discuss
Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.
Act on your Learning
You could make a difference in how your state draws its district lines. Contact your state legislature and let them know what you think about independent redistricting commissions.
Or contact your U.S. legislators and share your thoughts about a national election agency:
U.S. House of Representatives: Visit the House.gov website and use the "Find Your Representative" tool with your zip code.
U.S. Senate: Visit the Senate.gov website to find your state's Senators.
Get Creative
Create a way to express the data in the visual above that a 10 year old could understand.
