Reapportionment and Gerrymandering

How is this decided? Based on population California has 53 Texas has 36 representatives 6 states have the minimum of 1 United States Census Bureau Every ten Years Reapportionment Dividing up the 435 by 50 states Over the last 20 years, western and southern states have gained seats northern and mid-western states have lost seats What happens when a state loses or gains seats in the House … Redistricting and Gerrymandering Membership of the House

Redistricting Redistricting redrawing of congressional district lines Texas Congressional Districts “One-person, One-Vote” everybody's representation must be relatively equal Criticisms the current method of redistricting is unfair Gerrymandering Redrawing the district lines to favor a certain political party Video What is “packing” a district? redrawing lines to put your opponents in as few districts as possible What is “cracking” a district? Spreading out the votes your opponent has to water down their influence

Party A Party B Gerrymandering Imagine it is The national government has just completed the census and our state is to be divided into 5 congressional districts. We are going to look at several ways to draw the lines to demonstrate how state legislatures gerrymander their states.

Party A Party B Gerrymandering Perfect Representation Each district must have 10 “counties” Each “county” in a district must share a side with at least another “county” in the district Make is as equal as possible – draw your lines so that each party gets as many districts as possible according to their population.

Party A Party B Gerrymandering Cracking Each district must have 10 “counties” Each “county” in a district must share a side with at least another “county” in the district Make it so that Party B will control each of the 5 districts. – In order to do this, you must mix Party A with Party B.

Party A Party B Gerrymandering Packing Each district must have 10 “counties” Each “county” in a district must share a side with at least another “county” in the district Draw the lines to put Party A in control of a majority of the districts.

Exit Ticket 5 Districts Each District has to be at least 4 “counties” and no more than 5 “counties” Top 4 Republican Districts 1 Democrat District Bottom At least 3 Democratic Districts