Redistricting

Redistricting is the process of drawing United States electoral district boundaries.

In 33 states, the state legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to approval by the state governor. To reduce the role that legislative politics might play, seven states (Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Jersey and Washington) determine congressional redistricting by an independent or bipartisan redistricting commission. Four states, Florida, Iowa, Maine, and New York give independent bodies authority to propose redistricting plans, but preserve the role of legislatures to approve them. Seven states have only a single representative for the entire state because of their low populations; these are Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming.

State constitutions and laws also mandate which body has responsibility over drawing the state legislature boundaries. In addition, those municipal governments that are elected on a district basis (as opposed to at-large) also redistrict.