Are required in drawing federal districts to make sure each district has roughly the same population. This means some districts have much bigger land area than others. A quick look at New York’s congressional map below makes it clear that this can be true to some pretty extreme degrees. Detail of New York’s congressional districts as of 2014. Photo Courtesy Department of the InteriorWikimedia CommonsThere are however some pretty common guidelines that most states tend to follow in drawing their maps. A district should have contiguity meaning all the parts of the district should be connected.
Districts should be based on political boundaries like town and county lines. As much Belize WhatsApp Number as possible districts should also be compact with the hope that all citizens of a district live close together. Many states also stipulate that redistricting be done based on “Communities of Interest.” This means that grouping should consider whether voters in a district might have similar voting interests socioeconomic realities or other factors. As you can imagine the feasibility of following all of these guidelines at the same time is often possible but not always. And that’s why there’s so much room for debate and argument when.
it comes time to redraw congressional districts in many states. Okay So What’s GerrymanderingFormer Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger RCA speaks out about gerrymandering at a rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in 2019. Photo Courtesy Mandel NganAFPGetty ImagesHopefully you’ve seen by now that the process of redistricting is an absolutely essential one in a representative democracy. On the other hand the fact that it’s essential means that the stakes are very high. As such the major political parties have throughout the history of the U.S. government attempted.