State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

Amid Court Fights, Some States Consider Redistricting Commissions

Stateline: After one of the most litigious rounds of redistricting in recent history, movements have popped up in at least five states to take the power to draw legislative and congressional maps away from legislators and put it in the hands of commissioners.

The task of redistricting, done every 10 years after the U.S. Census counts the population, falls on state legislators in most states. But over the last five years, maps drawn by legislators in 40 states have been challenged in court amid accusations of gerrymandering or attempts to dilute minorities’ voting power. And the idea of a commission doing the mapping, even if it still required legislative approval, is attracting new interest.

Read article