Category Archives: redistricting

“Gerrylaundering”

September 17, 2021, 7:54 amredistrictingRick Hasen

Rob Yablon has posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: As they carry out their decennial redistricting duties, those in power sometimes audaciously manipulate district lines to secure an electoral advantage. In other words, they gerrymander. Often, however,… Continue reading

“New York Will Soon Lose 1 House Seat. The G.O.P. Might Lose 5.”

September 15, 2021, 7:03 amredistrictingRick Hasen

NYT: Seven years ago, New Yorkers voted decisively to empower a new bipartisan commission to do what self-interested politicians could not: draw new congressional district lines that were not gerrymandered to favor a particular party.But as the panel prepares… Continue reading

Minimal disruption in Iowa redistricting plan despite delayed Census data

September 14, 2021, 2:15 pmlegislation and legislatures, redistrictingDerek Muller

The Iowa Constitution requires the legislature to enact redistricting maps by September 15. That date will come and go given the delayed release of Census data. The first map from Iowa’s nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency (unique and widely praised)… Continue reading

“Revised Democratic voting bill drops controversial provisions, tweaks others as pressure for action mounts”

September 14, 2021, 7:50 amcampaign finance, election subversion risk, redistricting, Voting Rights ActRick Hasen

WaPo: A group of Democratic senators — including key centrist Joe Manchin III of West Virginia — introduced a pared-down voting rights, campaign finance and government ethics bill Tuesday in hopes of building momentum for its passage through a closely… Continue reading

Governor Wolf Creates Redistricting Advisory Council to Help Evaluate Fairness in Upcoming Congressional Redistricting Map

September 13, 2021, 1:35 pmredistrictingTabatha Abu El-Haj

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced the creation of a Redistricting Advisory Council as part of his commitment to a fair and transparent redistricting process that will involve the public. The Advisory Council has been tasked with: reviewing the processes in… Continue reading

Michael McDonald: “Powering the Public to Draw and Evaluate Redistricting Plans”

September 8, 2021, 8:27 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

The following is a guest post from Michael McDonald about his important project: With the release of the Census Bureau’s redistricting data, redistricting is now upon us. A number of organizations have been working on data and technology in anticipation… Continue reading

“Can Social Science Evidence Be Trusted in Voting Rights Litigation? Ascertaining Whether a Minority Community Will Have an Equal Opportunity to Elect a Candidate of its Choice in a Given Legislative or Congressional District”

September 8, 2021, 8:03 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

Bernie Grofman, Lisa Handley and David Lublin have posted this draft on SSRN. Here is the abstract: We address recent skepticism by Chief Justice Roberts about the usefulness of social science tools of analysis in litigation about redistricting. Limiting our… Continue reading

“Democrats see consequences from redistricting reform push”

September 4, 2021, 6:01 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

AP: Democrats argue that the once-a-decade process of redrawing political maps shouldn’t be a partisan cage match. In the name of good government and balance, they’ve pushed for independent commissions to do the work of rebalancing population changes into congressional… Continue reading

“Barely underway, Texas redistricting draws its first lawsuit challenging Legislature’s authority to redraw legislative maps”

September 2, 2021, 12:30 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

Texas Tribune: The first volley in what is expected to be a fierce war over Texas redistricting kicked off Wednesday in the form of a federal lawsuit filed by two Democratic state senators who argue that state lawmakers cannot legally… Continue reading

Grofman & Cervas: “Fracking: A Contiguity-Related Redistricting Metric”

August 31, 2021, 4:25 pmredistrictingRick Hasen

Bernie Grofman and Jonathan Cervas: The aim of this short blog is to add a useful term, fracking, to the list of geographically defined redistricting criteria. Fracking is defined as a situation in which a county or city or… Continue reading

UPDATED: Redistricting roundup

August 31, 2021, 12:30 pmredistrictingDerek Muller

August 31: I have updated some of the links and resources in this post and have bumped it to the top. Ahead of the Census release: ABC News Associated Press CNN NBC News NPR New York Times Politico Roll Call… Continue reading

Must-Read Michael Wines: “As Washington Stews, State Legislatures Increasingly Shape American Politics; From voting rights to the culture wars, state legislatures controlled by Republicans are playing a role well beyond their own state borders”

August 29, 2021, 1:57 pmlegislation and legislatures, redistricting, The Voting WarsRick Hasen

NYT: With the release of the 2020 census last month, the drawing of legislative districts that could in large part determine control of Congress for the next decade heads to the nation’s state legislatures, the heart of Republican political power.Increasingly,… Continue reading

“Ranked-Choice Voting as Reprieve from the Court-Ordered Map”

August 27, 2021, 7:16 amalternative voting systems, redistrictingRick Hasen

Benjamin Lempert in the Michigan Law Review. Abstract; Thus far, legal debates about the rise of ranked-choice voting have centered on whether legislatures can lawfully adopt the practice. This Note turns attention to the courts and the question of remedies.… Continue reading

“Big Picture: Professor Says Insiders Win”

August 25, 2021, 7:21 amELB Podcast, redistrictingRick Hasen

Bloomberg Government: Since redistricting this time around has a shorter timeline because of the Census delays, Stanford Law professor Nate Persily says the edge goes to “insiders over outsiders” and “those who are adept at the redistricting process over those… Continue reading