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A Brief Introduction to Redistricting

Every ten years, the US Census Bureau counts the population of every city and town in America. These numbers are used for a variety of purposes, the most important being redistricting.

Redistricting is the process of redrawing district maps for US Congress, state legislatures, and city and county government. Redistricting is an important part of protecting voter rights. The maps are redrawn in such a way that individuals have equal representation in government, that one person’s vote is equal to another’s.

For example, if District A is an urban center with 30,000 people, and District B is a rural community with only 10,000 people, then the people in District B would have three times as much influence per person in Congress. This is called “malapportionment”. To avoid it, the maps are redrawn every ten years.

What happens without redistricting? According to Dr. Michael McDonald of George Mason University, the Alabama legislature did not redistrict the state from 1901 to 1972. As a result, one quarter of the population controlled the majority of the seats in the legislature, and the rest of the population was without a voice in their communities.

Even when the maps are redrawn regularly, states can still have issues with gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is when dishonest politicians attempt to draw the lines of their district to include more members of their party, to give their party an unfair advantage at the polls.

Some states have district maps drawn by independent commissions. In Indiana, district maps are drawn by the state legislature.

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