Reapportionment & Redistricting For the House of Representatives

Legislative Branch In the Senate, every state gets represented by 2 senators regardless of population In the House of Representatives, representation is based on population…

Reapportionment Every 10 years the Census Bureau counts the population The population of each state determines the number of representatives in the House to which each state is entitled This process is called Reapportionment

Reapportionment Act of 1929 Congress approved a fixed number of representatives at 435. At least one representative per state and that no more than one for every 300,000 persons.

Seats added or lost in Congressional reapportionment after 2010 census

Reapportionment after 2010 Census

After reapportionment, state legislatures set up congressional districts—one for each representative in the House This process of setting up new district lines is called Redistricting

District lines around Texas

The population in each congressional district must be about the same—currently around 700,000 people in each district Districts must be compact and contiguous (shared a common border) Whichever political party controls the state legislature controls redistricting

Gerrymandering Controlling parties often use this power by --drawing district boundaries to gain an advantage in elections The goal is to send as many representatives from your party to the House as possible. Gerrymandering

Gerrymandering Video

“Packing” including as many of the opponent’s voters as possible into one district This weakens the opposing party by combining many similar votes into one voting block, opening up the other blocks for the minority party.

EXAMPLE of PACKING Six districts: A, B, C, D, E, F Two parties : X and Y 100 voters. Majority in a district wins the district. X has 60 % of the voters. Y has 40 % of the voters. -X has a majority of support in the population, but Y has the legislative majority. - Y has the power to draw the district boundaries. District Allocation: A: 26 Voters from X, 1 from Y. (X wins district A) B: 2 Voters from X, 10 from Y. (Y wins district B) C: 2 Voters from X, 10 from Y. (Y wins district C) D: 26 Voters from X, 1 from Y, (X wins district D) E: 2 Voters from X, 10 from Y. (Y wins district E) F: 2 Voters from X, 10 from Y. (Y wins district F) Results : TWO THIRDS of the legislative seats go to the minority party Y.

Example of “packing” in North Carolina

Example of “packing” in Illinois

“Cracking” dividing an opponent’s voters into many different districts This weakens the opposing party by spreading the vote out so they can overruled by the majority party.

Six districts: A, B, C, D, E, F Two parties : X and Y EXAMPLE of CRACKING Six districts: A, B, C, D, E, F Two parties : X and Y 100 voters. Majority in a district wins the district. X has 60 % of the voters. Y has 40 % of the voters. -X has a majority of support in the population, but Y has the legislative majority. - Y has the power to draw the district boundaries. District Allocation: A; 9 Voters from X, 10 from Y. (Y wins district A) B; 9 Voters from X, 10 from Y. (Y wins district B) C; 9 Voters from X, 10 from Y. (Y wins district C) D: 9 Voters from X, 10 from Y. (Y wins district D) E: 12 Voters from X, 0 from Y. (X wins district E) F: 12 Voters from X, 0 from Y. (X wins district F) Results : TWO THIRDS of the legislative seats go to the minority party Y.

Example of “cracking” in Ohio

The word gerrymander (originally written Gerry-mander) was used for the first time in the Boston Gazette on 26 March 1812. The word was created in reaction to a redrawing of Massachusetts state senate election districts under the then-governor Elbridge Gerry Party.

The “Gerrymander” In 1812, Governor Gerry signed a bill that redistricted Massachusetts to benefit his Democratic-Republican