Congress: Filibuster, Redistricting 10/10/07

Electing Representatives Reapportionment Redistricting

Reapportionment The process of re-dividing the 435 seats of the United States House of Representatives, based upon each state's proportion of the national population. The preceding census is the baseline for determining how many House seats are allotted to each state.

Redistricting The process by which the boundaries of state legislative districts and United States House districts are drawn to reflect population shifts. Each state has a different method for redistricting.

Issues in Redistricting Gerrymandering Geopolitical concerns Minority voting strength Equal Representation

Gerrymandering The manipulation of electoral districts is known as gerrymandering.

Geopolitical Concerns In 1842, the Reapportionment Act required that congressional districts be contiguous and compact. Compactness Contiguity Good Irregular

Minority Voting Strength Minority dilution –Weakening of the minority vote in an existing district by splitting the minority vote among multiple new districts. –Outlawed by the 1965 Voting Rights Act Minority packing –Taking existing minorities from multiple districts and packing them into one new district. –Court cases have ruled against these districts. –But racial gerrymandering still occurs.

Equal Representation In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled that districts must follow the principle of "one man, one vote” Each district should have 646,952 residents Difficult to achieve in states with one representative (Ex: Montana)

But “One Man, One Vote” Does Not Hold in the Senate Residents in low population states receive more representation: –Sen. Feinstein (CA) represents 35 million people –Sen. Enzo (WY) represents 500,000 people Minorities under-represented: –26 smallest states (in terms of population) have 11% of the nation’s African-American and Latino residents –The 9 largest (population) states have a majority of ALL people in the nation and 30% of the African- American and Latino population. Is there a principle that justifies entitlement to extra representation for some groups?

In Washington State Until 1985, redistricting happened through legislative action Legislature refused to redistrict through the 1970s Court-imposed redistricting in 1972 Since 1990s, independent, bipartisan commission does redistricting