Reapportionment and Redistricting
One of the most important functions of state government is the redistricting of Congressional (as well as state assembly and senate) districts. Some of the nastiest fights in recent memory have come over this issue.
You learned in Chapter 2 that Article I, section 2 of the Constitution mandates that the federal government conduct a census of the population every ten years. One of the purposes of taking the census is to reapportion Congressional seats based on population growth and movement. Because the number of seats in the House of Representatives is constitutionally fixed at 435, states that lose population also lose House seats, and states that gain population gain House seats. During the last census in 2000, New York was one of the losers, while California, Texas, and Florida were all winners.
Once the Bureau of the Census determines which states gain and lose House seats, it's up to the state legislatures to redraw the Congressional districts. Under the “one man, one vote” principle established by the Supreme Court, Congressional districts all must be approximately the same size (within a 5 percent margin of error). Today, Congressional districts have approximately 600,000 citizens. Because the number of representatives (435) will not change in the future, average district size will increase as the population grows.
Since redistricting is an opportunity for the party that controls the state legislature to redraw the political map to its liking, the process is almost always contentious and ugly. The biggest battles are reserved for states that lose Congressional seats. In those situations, unlucky incumbents (depending on the number of lost seats) are forced to run against another incumbent in order to remain in Congress. Legislators will often gerrymander districts — create odd political boundaries in order to capture favorable demographics — in an effort to pick up a few more Congressional seats for their party. In recent years, the Supreme Court has taken a more activist approach in disqualifying absurdly shaped districts.
What is gerrymandering?
“Gerrymandering” is a term used to describe redrawing Congressional districts for the sole purpose of delivering a partisan advantage to one party. The Supreme Court has held that it is constitutional for state legislatures to manipulate the Congressional map so as to substantially benefit the majority party at the expense of the minority party.
While gerrymandering is patently unfair to residents belonging to the minority party, it has been a seemingly intractable problem. In recent years, voters have become increasingly vocal in voicing displeasure to their state representatives on this issue.
