Redistricting 101

Justin LevittOctober 22, 2009

The Brennan Center and redistrictingBased at NYU, but work nationwide

Think tank, advocacy group, law firm

• Study of redistricting practices and reform initiatives

• Testimony before decisionmakers

• Consulting for advocates

• Advocacy and publication

The Midwest Democracy NetworkAlliance of political reform advocates

5 Midwest states

• Public education

• Civic organization training

• Policy formulation

• Public advocacy and pressure for reform

Today’s conversation

• What?

• When?

• Why?

• Who?

• Where?

• How?

Today’s conversation

• What?

• When?

• Why?

• Who?

• Where?

• How?

What is “redistricting”?

• Every 10 years (at least), after the census

• Congress, state legislature, many local legislatures

• Sorts voters into groups, distributes political power

A brief history

• Patrick Henry andJames Madison

• Elbridge Gerry

• the more things change . . .

TX-29

Today’s conversation

• What?

• When?

• Why?

• Who?

• Where?

• How?

Key redistricting dates

April 1, 2010 ―

December 31, 2010―

January 10, 2011 ―

April 1, 2011 ―

End of session 2011 ―

or early 2012

Census Day

Census count to President

Apportionment to U.S. House

Redistricting data to states

Most redistricting complete

Today’s conversation

• What?

• When?

• Why?

• Who?

• Where?

• How?

Blunt measure #1: voter choice

had no major-party challenger in 2008

39.5% of state legislative races

Source: Ballot Access News, Nov. 1, 2008

Redistricting is a part of the process

Campaign Finance

Term Limits

Redistricting

Source: Michael McDonald & John Samples, The Marketplace of Democracy 14

Blunt measure #2: shape

Is this a good district?

You can’t know if a district is “good,” unless you know what it’s trying to achieve

Is this a good district?Is she a good singer?

Why does redistricting matter?

• Politicians choosing their voters• Eliminating incumbents or

challengers

• Diluting minority votes• Splitting up communities

BarackObama

’shouse

Why does redistricting matter?

If you care about

representation,

and you care about

political power,

then you care about

redistricting

should

Today’s conversation

• What?

• When?

• Why?

• Who?

• Where?

• How?

Redistricting institutions

AdvisoryPrimary control in the legislature

Primary control outside legislature

PoliticianBackup

State legislative districts

Congressional

districts

Legislators usually draw their own lines

In most states, the legislature has primary control

• State legislative districts: 37 states

• Congressional districts: 38 states(and 7 states with 1 Congressional district)

… and if that should fail

In the last cycle,

• Courts drew state legislative districts in 7 states

• Courts drew congressional districts in 9 states

Today’s conversation

• What?

• When?

• Why?

• Who?

• Where?

• How?

“Where” starts with federal protections

• Equal population

• Race and the Voting Rights Act

Equal population – one person, one vote

• Congress: as equal as possible

• State legislature: ~10% spread if good reason

Minority representation

Cracking

Packing

The Voting Rights Act

Section 2 • Do minorities represent most of the voters in a compact area?

• Is there polarized voting?

• Is the minority population otherwise protected given the “totality of the circumstances”?

Do Not Dilute

After federal law, add state limitations

• Contiguity

• Political boundaries

• Compactness

• Communities of interest

• Partisanship/competition

• Nesting

State leg.Congress

48 22

42 18

36 17

24 13

10 7

14 n/a

State limitations

• Contiguity

• Political boundaries

• Compactness

• Communities of interest

• Partisanship/competition

• Nesting

Contiguity

• All parts of the district are adjacent to each other

State limitations

• Contiguity

• Political boundaries

• Compactness

• Communities of interest

• Partisanship/competition

• Nesting

Political boundaries

• Follow county / city / town / ward lines

• Split as few as possible v. split each into as few pieces as possible

State limitations

• Contiguity

• Political boundaries

• Compactness

• Communities of interest

• Partisanship/competition

• Nesting

Compactness

• Concerns the appearance of the district(or how close people live to each other)

State limitations

• Contiguity

• Political boundaries

• Compactness

• Communities of interest

• Partisanship/competition

• Nesting

Communities of interest

• Kansas -- “Social, cultural, racial, ethnic, and economic interests common to the population of the area, which are probable subjects of legislation . . . should be considered. [S]ome communities of interest lend themselves more readily than others to being embodied in legislative districts. . .”

State limitations

• Contiguity

• Political boundaries

• Compactness

• Communities of interest

• Partisanship/competition

• Nesting

Partisanship and competition

Two primary models:

• Prohibition on undue favoritism

• Affirmatively encourage competition

State limitations

• Contiguity

• Political boundaries

• Compactness

• Communities of interest

• Partisanship/competition

• Nesting

NestingSenateAssembly

Not nested

Nested

Influencing the processTangible next steps

• Census

• Redistricting

Influencing the census

• Educate your community

• Recruit census takers

• Become a census partner

• Staff a help center

• Focus on “hard to count” areas

2000 population in hard-to-count areas

Source: Election Data Services

Influencing redistricting (short-term)

• Educate your community(what? when? why? who? where?)

• Identify and map community boundaries

• Attend hearings

• Present alternative maps

• Don’t forget local districts

Mapping community boundaries

Influencing redistricting (long-term)There is hunger for change

Source: Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, Poll 9-10/09

Influencing redistricting (long-term)

1. Meaningful

independence

2. Meaningful

diversity

3. Meaningful

guidance

4. Meaningful

transparency

Principles for effective

redistricting

Meaningful independence

• One of the players shouldn’t also be the umpire

• That means staff, too

• This is not the same as taking politics out of redistricting

• Legislature can still have a role

- Select those who draw the lines

- Review (and tweak) lines afterward

1

Meaningful diversity

• Those who draw the lines should reflect the state

• Need sufficient size

• Need political incentive to choose diverse membership

• Needs to be expressly stated

2

Meaningful guidance

• Criteria that reflect basic goals

• Enough flexibility to accommodate local exceptions

• Communities of interest

• Statewide majority is legislative majority

3

Meaningful transparency

• Multiple opportunities for meaningful public input

• Data and tools to facilitate response

• Some explanation from redistricting body

4

Training others

• What?

• When?

• Why?

• Who?

• Where?

• How?

What is the process in your

state?

Where are the points of access?

• Justin LevittBrennan Center for [email protected]

• Midwest Democracy Networkwww.midwestdemocracynetwork.org

Further information