Congress: Filibuster,
Redistricting
10/10/07
Electing Representatives
• Reapportionment
• Redistricting
Reapportionment
• The process of re-dividing the 435 seats of
the United States House of
Representatives, based upon each state's
proportion of the national population.
• The preceding census is the baseline for
determining how many House seats are
allotted to each state.
Redistricting
• The process by which the boundaries of
state legislative districts and United States
House districts are drawn to reflect
population shifts.
• Each state has a different method for
redistricting.
Issues in Redistricting
• Gerrymandering
• Geopolitical concerns
• Minority voting strength
• Equal Representation
Gerrymandering
• The manipulation of electoral districts is
known as gerrymandering.
Geopolitical Concerns
• In 1842, the Reapportionment Act required
that congressional districts be contiguous
and compact.
Good
Compactness
Contiguity
Irregular
Minority Voting Strength
• Minority dilution
– Weakening of the minority vote in an existing
district by splitting the minority vote among
multiple new districts.
– Outlawed by the 1965 Voting Rights Act
• Minority packing
– Taking existing minorities from multiple
districts and packing them into one new
district.
– Court cases have ruled against these districts.
– But racial gerrymandering still occurs.
Equal Representation
• In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled that
districts must follow the principle of "one
man, one vote”
• Each district should have 646,952
residents
• Difficult to achieve in states with one
representative (Ex: Montana)
But “One Man, One Vote” Does
Not Hold in the Senate
• Residents in low population states receive more
representation:
– Sen. Feinstein (CA) represents 35 million people
– Sen. Enzo (WY) represents 500,000 people
• Minorities under-represented:
– 26 smallest states (in terms of population) have 11%
of the nation’s African-American and Latino residents
– The 9 largest (population) states have a majority of
ALL people in the nation and 30% of the AfricanAmerican and Latino population.
• Is there a principle that justifies entitlement to
extra representation for some groups?
In Washington State
• Until 1985, redistricting happened through
legislative action
• Legislature refused to redistrict through
the 1970s
• Court-imposed redistricting in 1972
• Since 1990s, independent, bipartisan
commission does redistricting