District Laws: Different From State Laws?

The laws that govern districts in the United States are subject to change depending on the state and district in question. The redistricting process, which occurs once every decade, involves redrawing district boundaries to ensure equally populated districts, in compliance with federal and state laws. The redistricting process is primarily controlled by state legislatures, but some states employ independent commissions to draw district lines. The specific laws that govern districts vary, with some states requiring districts to be compact and others requiring them to follow political boundaries. The application of the Voting Rights Act and federal constitutional prohibitions against racial discrimination in redistricting has been a subject of litigation, with some states requiring preclearance from the Department of Justice before implementing redistricting plans. Gerrymandering, or drawing district boundaries to influence election outcomes, has also been a significant issue in the redistricting process, with political parties using it to maintain power.

Who draws the district lines

In the United States, the authority to determine the "times, places, and manner" of congressional elections is primarily held by the states and their legislatures, according to Article I, Section 4 of the United States Constitution. Each state with multiple seats is responsible for establishing congressional districts for electing representatives.

The redistricting process, which involves redrawing district lines, is primarily controlled by the state legislature in most states, encompassing both state legislative and congressional districts. These district lines are often drawn by legislative committees, similar to the process of drafting legislation, and are passed with a majority vote in each legislative chamber. However, the specific entity responsible for redistricting can vary across states.

In some states, advisory commissions, which may include non-legislators, play a role in recommending district plans to the legislature, but the legislature retains the final decision-making authority. These commissions can be established by statute or written into the state constitution, and their level of independence varies. Additionally, certain states, such as Iowa, Maine, Utah, and Vermont, utilize advisory commissions to assist the legislature in the redistricting process.

Seven states, including Arkansas, Hawaii, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, employ "politician commissions" composed of elected officials or designated by legislative or party leadership to draw state legislative districts. These commissions may also include the governor or chief justice of the state Supreme Court.

It is important to note that redistricting is subject to various rules and constraints, such as equal population requirements, minority voting rights, and compliance with the Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court has also played a role in resolving disputes over redistricting and establishing criteria for district lines.

Redistricting rules and requirements

While states have primary authority in determining the "times, places, and manner" of their congressional elections, there are several redistricting rules and requirements that must be followed. These rules and requirements aim to ensure fair and equitable representation for all citizens. Here are some key redistricting rules and requirements:

• Equal Population: This rule, backed by federal law, mandates that each congressional district within a state should have roughly the same population. This ensures that each representative in the US House of Representatives represents a similar number of constituents. However, the Supreme Court has not provided a definitive answer on the specific method for determining population, leaving room for debate between total population, voting-age population ("VAP"), citizen voting-age population ("CVAP"), or registered voters.
• Voting Rights Act Compliance: The federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 aims to protect the voting rights of racial minorities. It overrides inconsistent state laws and requires preclearance from the Department of Justice or a federal court for changes in election rules in jurisdictions with a history of discrimination.
• Political Boundaries: Many states require legislative and congressional districts to follow existing political boundaries, such as county, city, town, or ward lines. This helps ensure that districts respect local communities and interests. However, the rule is often flexible to accommodate federal equal population and Voting Rights Act requirements.
• Compactness: While the definition of "compactness" varies, many states require their districts to be reasonably compact. This generally means that people within a district live near each other, promoting cultural cohesion and avoiding the bypassing of nearby populations.
• Nesting: In some states, legislative districts are "nested," meaning that state Senate districts are formed by combining two or three state House or Assembly districts. This creates a hierarchical structure where lower legislative house districts are contained within upper legislative house districts.
• Prison Inmate Addressing: As of August 2021, twelve states required redistricting authorities to count prison inmates as residents of their pre-incarceration addresses rather than their detention facility locations. This policy aims to prevent the dilution of voting power in areas with a high concentration of prisons.

These rules and requirements provide a framework for redistricting, ensuring that districts are drawn in a way that respects federal law, protects the voting rights of minorities, and promotes fair representation for all citizens.

Voting Rights Act and race

In the United States, the states and their legislatures have the primary authority to determine the "times, places, and manner" of congressional elections. However, this authority is not absolute, and there are instances where districts have different laws than states. For example, in Hawaii, the state constitution prohibits the drawing of "canoe districts", which are districts spread across multiple major island groups. Additionally, 34 states require state legislative districts to follow political boundaries, while 15 states impose similar constraints on congressional districts.

Now, turning to the focus of your query, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of civil rights legislation in the United States. The Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson to enforce the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits denying or abridging the right to vote based on race or colour. The Voting Rights Act aimed to address the various state regulations that had the effect of denying citizens their right to vote because of their race. It also outlawed literacy tests and provided for the appointment of federal examiners to register qualified citizens to vote in covered jurisdictions.

Section 2 of the Act closely followed the language of the Fifteenth Amendment, applying a nationwide prohibition on any voting qualification, prerequisite, standard, practice, or procedure that denies or abridges the right to vote based on race or colour. This section was further strengthened by Section 5, which required covered jurisdictions to obtain "preclearance" from the District Court for the District of Columbia or the US Attorney General for any new voting practices and procedures. These provisions ensured that changes to voting laws did not infringe upon the voting rights of racial and language minorities.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 remains significant in safeguarding the voting rights of Black Americans and other minority groups. It has been extended multiple times, with Congress recognising the ongoing need to protect the franchise for racial and language minorities. The Act's preclearance requirements were weakened in 2021 following the Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee Supreme Court ruling, which held that Section 2 preclearance provisions could not apply to out-of-precinct voting or ballot collecting. Despite this setback, the Act continues to play a crucial role in ensuring that all Americans, regardless of race, have the power, agency, and access to exercise their right to vote.

Gerrymandering

The redistricting cycle that followed the 2020 census was the first since the Supreme Court's 2019 ruling that gerrymandering for party advantage cannot be challenged in federal court. This has led to some of the most extreme gerrymanders in history, with Republicans gaining control of the drawing of 213 congressional districts and netting them 16 to 17 extra seats in the House for most of the last decade. However, Democrats have also used gerrymandering for partisan ends, such as in Maryland, where they used control over map-drawing to eliminate one of the state's Republican congressional districts.

While gerrymandering is almost always considered a corruption of the democratic process, it is difficult to challenge in court. The Supreme Court has held that gerrymandering based on race is incompatible with the Voting Rights Act and can be challenged as a potential violation of the equal protection clause. However, the Court has also ruled that political gerrymanders could be found unconstitutional only if they consistently degrade a voter's or a group of voters' influence in the political process as a whole, which can be difficult to prove.

Population deviation

The US Constitution requires that each district has roughly the same population. Each federal district within a state must have about the same number of people, and each state and local district within its jurisdiction must have roughly equal populations. Congressional districts, in particular, must have equal populations unless a state can provide a good reason for an imbalance. For example, in 2012, the Supreme Court approved a West Virginia congressional plan with a 0.79% population variation to keep county lines intact.

State and local legislative districts have more flexibility on population numbers, with a requirement to be "substantially" equal. A state plan may be upheld if there is a compelling reason for a larger disparity, and a state plan may be struck down if a smaller disparity is not justified by a good reason. For instance, Colorado allows a maximum of 5% total deviation between the largest and smallest districts, while Missouri asks districts to be no more than 1% above or below the average, except for deviations of up to 3% to maintain political boundaries. Iowa has similar rules, limiting total population deviation to 5% and setting the overall average deviation at no more than 1%.

The range of population deviation is crucial, and it is generally acceptable for districts to have slightly unequal populations to respect traditional redistricting principles, such as drawing districts along county boundaries. The Supreme Court has ruled that supporters of a political party cannot be systematically placed in large or small population districts within a 10% range to prevent malapportionment, which affects the number of districts a party might win. Some states may impose stricter population deviation limits than the 10% range allowed by the federal government.

Redistricting is the process of redrawing district lines to ensure equal population distribution and prevent malapportionment, which can lead to unequal representation. Commissions draw state legislative district lines in 14 states, while two states use hybrid systems. The states themselves determine their redistricting methods, which can vary within a state, such as between congressional and state legislative redistricting.

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