Editing Redistricting (section)

{{Short description|Process of drawing electoral district boundaries in the United States}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{about|the process of determining electoral boundaries in the United States|the process in other countries|Redistribution (election)}}
{{Politics of the United States}}
'''Redistricting''' in the [[United States]] is the process of drawing [[electoral district]] boundaries.<ref name ="ACE">{{Cite web|url=https://aceproject.org/ace-en/topics/bd/annex/bdz01 |title=Boundary Delimitation Glossary |publisher=ACE: The Electoral Knowledge Network |access-date=4 December 2022 }}</ref>  For the [[United States House of Representatives]], and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each [[United States census|ten-year census]].<ref name="Goldman-1986">{{Cite news|last=Goldman |first=Ari L. |date=21 November 1986 |title=One man, one vote: Decades of court decisions |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/21/nyregion/one-man-one-vote-decades-of-court-decisions.html }}</ref>

The [[Article One of the United States Constitution#Section 2, Clause 3|U.S. Constitution in Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3]] provides for [[proportional representation]] in the House of Representatives.  The [[Reapportionment Act of 1929]] required that the number of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives be kept at a constant 435, and a 1941 act made the reapportionment among the states by population automatic after every decennial census.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Apportionment Legislation 1890{{snd}}Present |date= 2008 |publisher=U.S. Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration U.S. Census Bureau |url=https://www.census.gov/history/www/reference/apportionment/apportionment_legislation_1890_-_present.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017161546/https://www.census.gov/history/www/reference/apportionment/apportionment_legislation_1890_-_present.html |archive-date=17 October 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref> Reapportionment occurs at the federal level followed by redistricting at the state level. According to {{ussc|name=Colegrove v. Green|328|549|1946|el=no}}, [[Article One of the United States Constitution#Section 4: Congressional elections|Article I, Section 4]] left to the legislature of each state the authority to establish congressional districts;<ref name="History-proportional">{{Cite web| title=Proportional Representation| url=http://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Proportional-Representation/| publisher=Office of the Historian, United States House of Representatives| location=Washington, D.C.| accessdate=September 21, 2018 }}</ref> however, such decisions are subject to judicial review.<ref name="Goldman-1986" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Warren |first=Earl |title=Reynolds v. Sims |publisher=Justia |language=en |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/377/533/ |access-date=4 December 2022 }}</ref> In most states redistricting is subject to political maneuvering, but some state legislatures have created independent commissions.<ref name="whodrawlinern">{{Cite web|title=Who draws the lines? |website=All About Redistricting |language=en |url=https://redistricting.lls.edu/redistricting-101/who-draws-the-lines/ |access-date=2021-11-27 }}</ref>

The [[Uniform Congressional District Act]] (enacted in 1967) requires that representatives be elected from [[single-member district]]s. When a [[U.S. state|state]] has a single representative, that district will be state-wide.<ref>{{USC|2|2c}}</ref>

[[Gerrymandering in the United States|Gerrymandering]] in the redistricting process has been a problem since the early days of the republic.<ref name="Griffith-1907">{{Cite book|last=Griffith |first=Elmer |year=1907 |title=The Rise and Development of the Gerrymander |location=Chicago |publisher=Scott Foresman |oclc=45790508 |url=https://archive.org/details/risedevelopmento00grif }}</ref> In recent years, critics have argued that redistricting has been used to neutralize minority voting power.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Gerrymandering could limit minority voters' power even though Census shows population gains|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/13/gerrymandering-could-limit-minority-voters-power-even-after-census-gains.html|access-date=2021-11-26|website=[[CNBC]]|date=13 August 2021 |language=en}}</ref> Supporters say it enhances electoral competitiveness.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Why should we care? |website=All About Redistricting|language=en |url=https://redistricting.lls.edu/redistricting-101/why-should-we-care/ |access-date=4 December 2022 }}</ref>