redistricting.lls.eduAll About Redistricting

PARDON OUR DUST! I WAS AWAY 2015-2016; SITE-WIDE UPDATES AND UPGRADES ARE COMING SOON. PROFOUND THANKS TO SUNY BUFFALO LAW SCHOOL FELLOW JEFF WICE AND BRIAN REMLINGER FOR HELP IN GETTING/KEEPING UP TO DATE GIVEN MY ABSENCE. Overview Maps & Data Rules Cases Resources Reform My Work What is redistricting? When are the lines drawn? Who draws the lines? Where are the lines drawn? How can the public engage? Why does this matter? The Latest On June 27, 2019 , the Supreme Court declared partisan gerrymandering claims to be nonjusticiable under the federal constitution; this means federal courts can’t hear those claims. The opinion will bring federal court litigation in MD , MI , NC , OH , and WI to a close. My take is here . Cong. lines in PA and Cong. and state Senate lines in FL were struck this cycle as unduly partisan under state law, and a case in NC is continuing. Also on June 27, 2019 , the Supreme Court affirmed a NY federal court in vacating the Secretary of Commerce’s decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census; the Court found the reason given for the decision to be pretext. Technically, the determination of whether to add a question will shortly be back before the Secretary, but the Census Bureau has repeatedly said that "absent extraordinary resources," the content of the 2020 Census must be set by June 30 in order to run the Census itself on time. My take on the underlying controversy is here . On June 17, 2019 , SCOTUS dismissed an appeal from a federal court’s redrawing of VA state House districts. This cycle, courts struck all or part of congressional plans in FL , NC , PA , TX , and VA . Courts struck all or part of state leg. plans in AK , AL , CO , FL , HI , ID , KY , MO , NC , PA , TX , VA , and WI . More here . On November 6, 2018 , voters in CO , MI , and UT approved ballot initatives changing the process for drawing state and federal lines, and voters in MO changed the process for drawing state lines. The midterm elections also turned IL , NM , NV , and NY from split states to Democratic control, and MI , NH , and WI from Republican control to split states. Maps and tables showing partisan control (if the districts were drawn today) are here . On June 25, 2018 , SCOTUS rejected most challenges to 2013 federal and state lines in TX . Proceedings arecontinuing on whether Texas should be brought back under federal supervision based on the 2011 plan. SCOTUS has now issued 17 redistricting opinions (and addressed 56 state or federal cases) since 2011. See the overview map of congressional and state leg. maps struck and upheld. Current status Congress State legislature 43 final plans (for 2020) (updated 6/29/19) One congressional district Plans past first stage Plans past second stage Awaiting preclearance Plans approved Plans approved, lawsuit pending Plan rejected by court, returned for redrawing Plans to be drawn by court Where a state’s plan has been rejected by a court and redrawn, the cursor turns the state pale orange. Where a court has itself drawn a final plan, the cursor turns the state dark orange. Ten Lawyers Leaping: A New Year’s Redistricting Review January 3, 2012 (Cross-posted from the Huffington Post ) The 2011 holiday season brought plenty of election-related tidings, of comfort and joy to some and consternation to others. Now, in the first days of 2012, in between hitting "refresh" on Iowa caucus coverage, it’s useful to take stock of our other democratic infrastructureand particularly, since we’re in the thick of the redistricting cycle , to gauge our national progress in drawing the lines that will determine representation for the next ten years (or until Texas decides to re-redraw its lines, once again). First, a recap of the numbers. 428 congressional districts, in 43 states, must be redrawn (seven states have one Representative apiece); 7,382 state legislative districts (and hundreds of thousands of local districts) must also be adjusted. Democrats unilaterally control the redistricting process for 44 congressional seats (6 states) and 885 state legislative seats (8 states); Republicans unilaterally control redistricting for 210 congressional seats (18 states) and 2,498 state legislative seats (21 states). The others were subject to some sort of divided control. With today’s court decision striking West Virginia’s map, 27 states (202 seats) have complete congressional plans . California and Michigan have drawn plans that await preclearance by the Department of Justice ; Arizona has released a " tentative final map," pending approval by its lawyers ... which means it’s all over but the crying (and the litigation). Courts in Connecticut and Minnesota appear ready to issue final congressional plans early in 2012. Ten states’ existing plans are subject to lawsuits : several of those lawsuits will disappear soon, and others will undoubtedly arise. And Texas, as usual, gets a 10-gallon asterisk: Though both the legislature and a federal court have drawn maps, neither is legally valid at the moment, thanks to a Supreme Court stay (see below). As for the state legislatures, which will pass laws impacting the 2012 elections from president on down, 27 states (3,685 seats) have complete plans . South Dakota joins California and Michigan in awaiting preclearance, and Arizona’s also just waiting for legal sign-off. Courts in Minnesota and New Mexico look ready to issue plans early in the new year. Seven states’ existing plans are subject to lawsuits; some will disappear, others await. And Texas. Always Texas. In all of this activity, there are more than a few developments of note. Here is my list of the 12 gifts of the holiday season for redistricting lawyers: 1. Looking to the courts. Every 10 years, redistricting litigation joins death and taxes as one of life’s certainties. 113 cases impacting federal or statewide redistricting have been filed so far this cycle, in 31 different stateswith 26 new cases in November and December alone. That’s not yet a record: Based on the excellent resources compiled by NCSL, there were at least 149 cases (40 states) filed in the 2000s , and 150 cases (41 states) filed in the 1990s . But the litigation life cycle is far from over, for cases new and old. In Arizona, a complaint was filed on March 6, 2002together with, ironically, a motion for expedited consideration. The case was closed more than seven years later. 2. Looking to the courts II. Courts don’t just weigh in on existing plans. In five states so farall with the legislature in charge of redistricting and all with split partisan controlthe legislative process failed to produce a map; in Connecticut , both the legislative process and a special backup commission couldn’t get the job done. In order to have a map in place for elections to go forward, courts took over. Only two states with split legislative controlNew York and Kentuckystill have to try to sort out maps, but court action may not be far on the horizon. 3. Looking to the courts III. Eleven states have thus far sought preclearance for statewide redistricting plans under section 5 of the Voting Rights Act . The provision requires federal approval of new election laws in areas of historical disenfranchisement, to ensure that new laws don’t dilute the political power of racial and ethnic minorities. Normally, submissions go to the Department of Justice, which has a special administrative process to handle claims in a hurry. In fact, of the 1,046 other redistricting preclearance submissions so far this cycle, overwhelmingly from smaller jurisdictions, 1,043 went only to the DOJ. But six states also sent their redistricting plans to a D.C. federal court, with a much more cumbersome trial process applying the same legal standard. Michigan and Texas went only to the federal court, and not to the DOJ at all. And the end-run isn’t because DOJ has been particularly ferocious this cycle: of the 1,074 total plans or procedures submitted to...