Reapportionment
Government: Libertyville HS
What is Reapportionment?
• A method to re-draw
congressional district lines to
reflect the population
changes in America, from
state to state
• Also called “redistricting”
• Who does it affect?
– House of Representatives
members ONLY
– US Senators NOT affected
(why?)
– In example, where do you
want to live?
US population change, 1990-2000
250,000
500,000
5 million
1 million
What is the Process?
• Census Bureau counts our
population every 10 years
to determine where people
live
• Census Bureau divides the
total population of the US
by 435 (why?)
• This determines the
number of Americans per
district
• Census Bureau then tells
each state how many
congressional seats it has
Reapportionment effect, 2000
What is the Process?
• Each state legislature
redraws the district lines
– Congress
– State Legislature
– New lines reflect addition /
loss of seats
• Court challenges follow to
assure constitutionality
and fairness of map
• Challenges can be brought
in state or federal courts
• Will end up in USSC
What can be Taken into Consideration?
• USSC has decided many cases to
determine what can be
considered in reapportionment
– Same # of people must be in each
district (“one man, one vote”):
Wesberry v. Sanders
– Keep communities together!
(AVOID GERRYMANDERING)
– Race / ethnicity of a pop. IS NOT
allowed
• Exception: if a compelling state
interest is shown
• Past discrimination is not a
compelling state interest
• Showing present discrimination
would be enough (Shaw v. Reno)
What can be Taken into Consideration?
• Political preference of
a population can be
considered when redistricting (Latin
Voters v. Perry)
Athena Map
• What is fair and equitable?
• Assignment
– Split map into 20 districts
– MUST have equal numbers of symbols in each
district (meaning, 10 per district)
– On back of map, write and explanation why it is
fair and equitable
Extra Credit: New Utopia
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New Utopia has 2.8 million residents
Each district must have 400,000 residents
Total number of districts = 7
You want to assure victory for the Democratic
Party by creating districts with 65% majority of
that party
• Thus, you will need to either GROUP the
Republican party’s voters or SPLIT them
between the districts
• Lines dividing districts must be STRAIGHT
• Try to keep districts as compact as possible
Illinois Congressional Map