What is redistricting?

Redistricting is the process of each state redrawing its congressional map to account for changes in population in the U.S. Census. These maps determine which House district each voter lives in and which representatives they will elect. The Census determines how many of the 435 total congressional districts each state has. Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming all have one at-large district, so they do not have a congressional redistricting process.

When is redistricting?

Every 10 years, once the latest Census data is released, states begin redistricting (drawing new congressional maps). The new maps are set for the next House elections. However, the redistricting process does not necessarily end with the first election cycle. The new maps are subject to litigation in state and federal courts, and maps can be struck down and redrawn. In states such as Alabama, the Supreme Court struck down the congressional map, which will have to be redrawn before the 2024 elections. New York and North Carolina will likely see new maps for the 2024 election as well. Some states, such as Ohio, enacted a temporary map, which expires in 2024 and has to be redrawn. Redistricting also occurs at the state level - redistricting determines state house and state senate districts, which can also be gerrymandered.

Why should I care?

Politically motivated redistricting, also known as gerrymandering, results in a state’s repredentatives not actually reflecting the citizens of the state. When political bias drives redistricting, parties in control draw districts in a way that allows them to maintain or further solidify control - which often results in ridiculously drawn districts that are not reflective of actual communities or competitive in elections. Voters are disenfranchised, and drawn into districts that are nearly unwinnable for their party. Both Democrats and Republicans gerrymander, and gerrymandered districts unfairly tilt the playing field towards one party in the House.

Who controls redistricting?

Each state is somewhat responsible for its maps, but the method by which maps are drawn varies across states. In most states, the new maps are drawn in a bill: the state legislature is tasked with drawing a map, which is then approved by the legislature and signed into law by the governor. The governor may also veto the map and send it back to the legislature. In some states, most notably California, redistricting is controlled by an independent commission, and the state government has no say. In some states (New York), the commission recommends a map to the legislature. There are exceptions to the norm - in North Carolina and New York, the state Supreme Court struck down the legislature-drawn maps, and appointed a special master to draw the maps instead. However, those maps will likely be litigated and redrawn by the legislatures for the 2024 election.

What is gerrymandering?

Gerrymandering is when districts are intentionally drawn to disproportionally represent a state. There are multiple forms of gerrymandering - the most common are partisan gerrymandering and racial gerrymandering - but different forms of gerrymandering often overlap (racial gerrymandering can also be partisan gerrymandering). There are three main forms of gerrymandering: cracking, packing, and stacking. This diagram taken from the Washington Post does a very good job at demonstrating cracking and packing. Suppose this map represents a state, each square represents one person, and the state has to draw five districts of 10 people each.

What is “cracking?”

Cracking is when the party drawing the map splits a densely-populated area, usually a city, into multiple districts, and the rest of each district is often suburban or rural areas. The map in the middle right demonstrates cracking - instead of two red districts and three blue districts, the red area has been cracked so that every district is a blue district. Cracking is typically used to dilute the voting power of cracked areas - in this example, the red party will not win any of the seats because of how the lines were drawn.

What is “packing?”

Packing is when districts are drawn to encompass a large majority of a certain race or party. The map on the far right demonstrates packing - the purple voters in the middle have been packed into one district, resulting in more gray districts than purple districts, even though the majority of the state is purple.

What is “stacking?”

Stacking is when a district looks like proportional representation, but other factors result in one side’s voter turnout being much higher than the other. This could be due to the location of polling stations and dropboxes, laws governing access to vote and voter registration, and/or differences in income levels and education. Cracking and packing are used more frequently than stacking. 

What is a proportional representation?

Proportional representation is the idea that a state’s congressional delegation should match the makeup of the states. Proportional representation is the middle left map - three blue districts and two red districts accurately represents the state. Proportional representation would result in a House of Representatives that is much more reflective of the country’s views and opinions, but doing so requires states to not gerrymander. Unfortunately, the U.S. has lots of work to do to reach that goal.

What is the cover photo?

Great question! In 1812, the state of Massachusetts adopted new congressional districts, and the Republican-controlled state legislature drew a state senate map designed to maximize the amount of Republicans in office. One of the state senate districts was so awkwardly drawn that a Federalist political cartoon (this one) compared it to a salamander. The district’s shape was attributed to Governor Elbridge Gerry, and was called The Gerry-mander. The term stuck.

Even though Gerry signed the law, Gerry opposed creating such parisian districts. However, it worked - Federalists won control of the Governorship and the state house, but Republicans still dominated the state Senate because of how they drew the districts.