Power on the Line(s): Making Redistricting Work for Us is a guide to familiarize you with what redistricting is all about, and to provide you with ways you can make sure your voice is heard in the redistricting process for the seats that affect you. The appendix to the guide explains how you can get involved in the redistricting process in your state. This guide is a collaboration between the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc, Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC, and MALDEF.
In the face of the many changes in our country’s political and demographical landscape, one thing remains constant: the American people are the bedrock of our system of government, and it is our right to engage in the political process to achieve a more equitable nation and better lives for everyone. Achieving equal representation and being able to cast equal and effective votes depends in part on redistricting maps that are drawn fairly to reflect and respect our communities. Redistricting encompasses the process by which states and the jurisdictions within them redraw the district maps that shape legislative, congressional, and local power.
The maps drawn during the redistricting cycle determine the allocation of political power and representation at every level of government across the nation for at least the next ten years. Now more than ever, we must all participate in the redistricting process to prevent jurisdictions from engaging in discriminatory redistricting whether based on race, party affiliation, or some other identity. Your vote and your political power — your voice in our democracy —are on the line.
Redistricting is the process by which states and the jurisdictions within them redraw the lines that encompass electoral districts. These districts are the geographical areas from which political representatives are elected on the local, regional, state, and federal levels. The residents of each electoral district vote for who will govern them and represent them — in the U.S. House of Representatives, state legislatures, county commissions, city councils, school boards, and more. According to the U.S. Constitution, all electoral districts within a given redistricting map must contain approximately the same number of people. This principle is an important starting point. But there are many other factors and criteria that also influence how district lines are drawn
In Reynolds v. Sims, the Supreme Court announced a rule that state legislatures must have districts of approximately equal population size to ensure that everyone has equal representation and political power. This requirement is known as the “one person, one vote” principle.
Where district lines are drawn may determine where residents can vote, whom they can vote for, and even how responsive elected officials are to constituents’ requests. Moreover, the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder, made the Section 5 preclearance of the Voting Rights Act, an important tool to protect against discriminatory redistricting, effectively inoperable. That means that jurisdictions with the worst records of racial discrimination in redistricting (and other practices) no longer have to seek federal pre-approval of their redistricting plans before they can be implemented. The absence of the federal government’s preclearance before redistricting plans can go into effect is a major detriment to voters of color going into this next redistricting cycle. Thus, the planning and work that communities must do to protect against unfair and discriminatory redistricting plans is now all the more important.
Additionally, at the federal level, the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to curb what’s known as “partisan gerrymandering,” which occurs when a political party manipulates the redistricting process for political advantage, regardless of what the voters want. This manipulative practice can sometimes negatively affect communities of color. Left unchecked, actors will continue to draw maps that favor their preferred political party often to the detriment of voters of color. Until the courts or new legislation curb partisan gerrymandering, going into the next redistricting cycle, voters may have one less tool to fight back against redistricting plans that manipulate voters based on their party affiliation.
Usually the state legislature has the authority to draw electoral lines. When it’s time to draw new maps, most state legislatures will convene public meetings or consider public maps to provide an opportunity for community input, transparency, and inclusivity in the redistricting process. However, some legislators may prioritize their own re-election and particular racial groups or political parties whom they perceive as likely to support them over other criteria and policies during redistricting. Some (but not all) states have laws and constitutional provisions that attempt to combat these self-interested practices.
In other states, district lines are drawn by an Independent Redistricting Commission (IRCs). IRCs have been established by states to try to divorce politics and ensure fairness in the redistricting process. However, IRCs aren’t always immune to political motives or reflective of the racial diversity of communities within their jurisdictions.
While redistricting is the process of redrawing district lines, reapportionment is the allocation of electoral seats to that specific geography and is also based on population counts. Since populations change over time, redistricting and reapportionment must coincide with the census count every 10 years. Through the reapportionment process, the 435 seats in the House of Representatives are allocated to the 50 states based on their population counts: The larger the population, the more House seats it gets.
There is a long history of federal, state, and local officials using the redistricting process as a mechanism for excluding voters of color from the body politic, and/or diminishing their voting power. These schemes often occur when legislative bodies and redistricting commissions believe they can ignore the interests of voters of color, or when communities of color and the groups that represent them do not have a voice in the redistricting process.
Since the federal government will no longer act to review discriminatory voting policies in advance, the redistricting process now lies with everyday citizens, especially Black, Latino, and Asian American voters, who are most vulnerable to disenfranchisement through discriminatory voting policies.
Power on the Line(s): Making Redistricting Work for Us is a guide to empower a broad set of audiences — including community members, and policy makers — to make their voices heard in the redistricting process including by participating in public redistricting hearings, holding legislators accountable in the redistricting process, and notifying civil rights organizations like LDF, MALDEF, and Advancing Justice | AAJC if there becomes a need to challenge discriminatory redistricting in court.
