Designed with the help of redistricting professionals from many of the state legislatures and political parties, maptitude for redistricting works the way you work, has the features youve requested, is easy to learn and use, and. The sevenmember redistricting commission voted 52 to adopt a preliminary redistricting plan the plan on july 21,2011. It provides a complete set of desktop mapping and spatial analysis functions, as well as nationwide geographic data sets including. Simply open a shapefile, load in census and election data if not already included in the shapefile, and hit go. Apr 25, 2019 this page provides an overview of the most significant supreme court decisions on redistricting from the last five decades. Autoredistrict is a free and open source computer program that automatically creates fair and compact electoral districts. Redistricting encourages manipulation of our elections by allowing incumbent politicians to help partisan allies, hurt political enemies and choose their voters. Dra 2020 alpha is the new app from daves redistricting. Supreme court orders redo of texas redistricting plan a lower court must now take a new look at election maps drawn up by the texas legislature, which is dominated by republicans. Maptitude for redistricting software has defined the redistricting software market since its introduction in 1997. Duke journal of constitutional law and public policy 5 2010. Jun 04, 2019 all redistricting plans shall comply with the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment and the fifteenth amendment to the u.
Support contiguous and non contiguous district definitions census and custom geography data esri redistricting is complete with preprocessed census data2000, 2010 tiger, and public law p. Experts generally agree that a district is not contiguous if parts of it are. The redistricting commission has been committed to transparency in its proceedings. When discussing redistricting, ive heard individuals raise the question. Required by law, the redistricting data program provides states the opportunity to specify the small geographic areas for which they wish to receive decennial population totals for the purpose of reapportionment and redistricting. Redistricting software and data post redistricting, howard simkowitz, caliper corporation 2012 geography matters.
Californias redistricting process brennan center for. Inclusion in this list does not constitute endorsement. Redistricting law 101 louisiana house of representatives. Much of this law is judicially imposed because, in 1929, congress let lapse its standards requiring districts to be made up of contiguous and compact territory and containing as nearly as practicable an equal number of inhabitants. Before the law was changed in 2008, state law had been construed to prohibit drawing both congressional and state legislative districts more than once per decade. The term gerrymandering refers to the practice of drawing electoral district lines to favor one political party, individual, or constituency over another. Specifications for automatic redistricting software. The legislature did not pass state legislative plans, so the governors proposals for state house and senate became law on february 22, 2002. Getting from here to there in redistricting reform. The 2008 amendments retained some of the same language, but in different context.
Districtbuilder webbased, hosted on their servers, in partnership with the public mapping project. We also offer compactness data from our validated measure for 20,160 state legislative and congressional districts, as well as software to compute this measure from any district. When used in a rhetorical manner by opponents of a particular district map, the term has a negative connotation but does not necessarily address the legality of a challenged map. These days of study have been immeasurably valuable for their clarification of requirements, because when it comes to redistricting, the redistricter has no right to change the law or. Alaska redistricting legislation alaska constitution article 6, legislative apportionment. It is gathered from several sources and is for information purposes only. Redistricting is the process of redrawing state legislative and congressional district boundaries every 10 years by state legislatures following the decennial u.
Get a copy of ncsls redistricting law 2020 when it is published. The promise and perils of computers in redistricting. Automated redistricting program to prevent gerrymandering. Sections 2 and 5 of the voting rights act of 1965, as amended. The guide to 2011 redistricting was prepared to provide members of the legislature and other. Under the provisions of title, section 141 c of the united states code u.
All united states representatives and state legislators are elected from political divisions called districts. Where the lines are drawn all about redistricting loyola law. Guidance and access to information about congressional districts and congressional district products. The 2020 census redistricting data program the 2020 census redistricting data program provides states the opportunity to delineate voting districts and to suggest census block boundaries for use in the 2020 census redistricting data tabulations public law 94171 redistricting data file. This data is typically provided by april 1st of each year following the completion of a census.
During the recent round of united states redistricting public participation and transparency in the process increased many times over, in part through the districtbuilder software development and the companion public mapping project. Californias redistricting process brennan center for justice. Code 804a state law further asks that state legislative districts be, insofar as possible, contiguous and bounded by roads, streams, and other natural boundaries. Redistricting is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries in the united states. Constitution requires each representative in congress represent an equal number of citizens and mandates a census to determine the number of citizens and apportion seats to each state. Redistricting is a state process governed by federal law. Software tools provide capability from development of precinct boundaries at the city and county level to geocoding, disaggregation of election results, desktop and web based. If the legislature and governor belong to the same party, that party, can end up with exclusive control over the result.
Simply open a shapefile, load in census and election data if not already included in the shapefile, and hit go autoredistrict uses a genetic algorithm to design districts that meet multiple criteria. Much of the case law is devoted to the constitutional requirement of one person, one vote, but over the past 20 years, more and more of the case law has addressed the impermissible uses of race in. Public input and transparency the commission must hold at least seven public hearings in seven different regions of the state and cannot hold more than two hearings in the same county unless the county. A congressional act passed in 1967 requires that representatives be elected. Esri offers an optional data service package to support clients with integration of custom data sets supplied by strategic telemetry. More than one person can edit a map simultaneously.
Even with clear criteria, there are thousands of legal maps that can be. Guidance and access to information about state legislative. Redistricting data program state legislative districts. The site is designed to support citygates enterprise redistricting platform. The basic purpose of decennial redistricting is to equalize population among electoral districts after publication of the united states census indicates an. However, over the past five decades, the united states supreme court has developed an extensive and complex jurisprudence on redistricting. Analysis proposition 20 voter information guide november. Most state constitutions include guidelines and limitations on how state legislative. The commission must also make redistricting data and software available to the public. During the recent round of united states redistricting public participation and transparency in the process increased many times over, in part through the districtbuilder software development and the. These redistricting puzzles are kind of like sudoku. Maptitude for redistricting is a special edition of caliper corporations maptitude geographic information system software. In the 2000 redistricting cycle, the maryland legislature enacted congressional plans, signed on may 6, 2002.
Redistricting costs prior to proposition 11 and under current law. Compact, contiguous, preserve political subdivisions, preserve. A community of interest is defined as a contiguous. While computers and gis software are fundamental to the completion of redistricting tasks. For redistricting purposes, the data must arrive at statehouses by april 1, 2021, but texas legislative officials expect the numbers sometime in late february. Redistricting is a complex process, so we simplify this process as much as possible by providing tools and visual cues to help a novice draw a legal redistricting plan.
Much of this law is judicially imposed because, in 1929, congress let lapse its standards requiring districts to be made up of contiguous. Jul 15, 2010 redistricting costs prior to proposition 11 and under current law. The previous apportionment acts required districts be contiguous, compact, and equally populated. Census bureau to provide, each state with census data that the states will need for redistricting. Simply open a shapefile, load in census and election data if not already included in the shapefile, and hit go autoredistrict uses a genetic algorithm to design districts that meet. Here is a summary of the federal law affecting redistricting. All redistricting plans shall comply with the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment and the fifteenth amendment to the u.
The smaller number reflects the fact that few states have any express legal. By law, the census bureau must send the 2020 population figures to the president by dec. First, redistricting was once done on a countybycounty basis. I spent the past three days studying redistricting law including federal law, state law, the voting rights act of 1965, and priorities among conflicting redistricting requirements. The origin, meaning, estimation, and application of the concept of partisan symmetry in legislative redistricting, and the justiciability of partisan gerrymandering. May 06, 2010 i spent the past three days studying redistricting law including federal law, state law, the voting rights act of 1965, and priorities among conflicting redistricting requirements. Much of this law is judicially imposed because, in 1929, congress let lapse its standards requiring districts to be made up of contiguous and compact territory and containing as nearly as. Howard said the bill would codify in state law the legislative resolution that guided the last redistricting process in 2011. Districts generally have to be contiguous, with all parts of the district. These days of study have been immeasurably valuable for their clarification of requirements, because when it comes to redistricting, the redistricter has no right to. Mississippi requires districts composed of contiguous territory. Use contiguous territory to fonn districts, with reasonable access between.
While the voting rights act is the premiere federal law affecting the redistricting process, state law also plays a crucial rule in how states redraw their voting boundaries. The problem is, pennsylvania law doesnt say how congressional districts should be redrawn or what criteria should be used to ensure new district boundaries are fair. She is in charge of calipers redistricting and elections software activities. All redistricting plans shall contain whole election precincts established pursuant.
Automated re districting program to prevent gerrymandering. How to measure legislative district compactness if you. Redistricting is the revision or replacement of existing districts, resulting in new districts with different geographical boundaries. However, the states redistricting software appears unequipped to handle the adjustment in the 2010 cycle. Ncsl helps prepare legislatures and others for the redistricting cycle with comprehensive information on redistricting law, technology and process. Esri redistricting software for redistricting process. Public training for the software was held on june 23, 2011. Jan 20, 2012 supreme court orders redo of texas redistricting plan a lower court must now take a new look at election maps drawn up by the texas legislature, which is dominated by republicans. In addition to population equality, section 2 of the voting rights act of 1965. Redistricting criteria national conference of state. Most state constitutions include guidelines and limitations on how state legislative andor congressional boundaries must be redrawn.
A congressional act passed in 1967 requires that representatives be elected from singlemember districts, except when a state has a single representative, in which case one statewide atlarge election be held. The data, code, and any additional materials required to repli. Redistricting is the process of drawing boundaries for electoral and political districts in the u. To maximize public access to its proceedings, the commission procured online redistricting mapping software so the public could draw, share, propose and submit maps to the commission. Each house district shall be formed of contiguous and compact territory containing as nearly as. Redistricting is the revision or replacement of existing districts, resulting in new districts with. Redistricting districtbuilder and the public mapping project. Supreme court orders redo of texas redistricting plan. It is now possible to design redistricting software based on the ob jective statistical. Contiguity is the most common rule imposed by the states. Redistricting is the process by which new congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn. The redistricting application is complete with preprocessed census data2000, 2010 tiger, public law p. Maptitude is a fullfeatured gis that has set new standards for performance and value.
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