An Overview of Local Redistricting

An Overview of Local Redistricting

By EditorJun 29, 2025
The local redistricting process, where counties, cities, school boards, and special districts redraw their geographic boundaries, shares many of the same legal and procedural frameworks as state‐level redistricting but operates at a far more granular scale. Below is an in‐depth look at how local redistricting unfolds, key hurdles jurisdictions face, proven best practices, a general timeline, and how these local efforts differ from statewide map‐drawing. Overview of Local Redistricting Any elected body based on districts, such as county boards, city councils, school boards, utility districts, even some judicial and special‐purpose bodies, must periodically redraw lines so that each district remains…
Enacting a Redistricting Map, Local Redistricting
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Review: Local Election Official’s Guide to Redistricting

Review: Local Election Official’s Guide to Redistricting

By EditorJun 29, 2025
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission's (EAC) Local Election Officials’ Guide to Redistricting serves as a practical roadmap for local jurisdictions drawing new district boundaries after each decennial census. Aimed squarely at election administrators, who may lack dedicated redistricting staff, the guide walks readers step by step through the legal requirements, data management needs, public‐engagement obligations, map‐drawing techniques, and the implementation tasks needed to complete a redistricting map. At the heart of the guide is a discussion of the legal framework governing redistricting. It reiterates constitutional mandates for equal representation (“one person, one vote”) and underscores compliance with both Section 2…
Enacting a Redistricting Map, Local Redistricting,
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Baltimore County’s Proposed Council Map Adds Two Members but There’s No Agreement on Map Yet

Baltimore County’s Proposed Council Map Adds Two Members but There’s No Agreement on Map Yet

By EditorJun 28, 2025
The Baltimore County Redistricting Commission’s final redistricting map proposal reshapes the council into nine districts, up from seven, following voter approval of a charter amendment. The proposed map includes two majority-Black districts, two majority-BIPOC districts, and five majority-White districts. Council member Izzy Patoka emphasized that the expansion offers more opportunities for women and people of color, but acknowledged the map still needs five of the current council’s seven votes to pass, meaning bipartisan support will be essential. The plan faces resistance from Republican council members such as David Marks, who criticized the map for having a “partisan objective” and splitting communities like…
Enacting a Redistricting Map, Maryland, ,
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ACLU and League of Women Voters Take South Carolina’s Partisan Gerrymandering Fight to State Supreme Court

By EditorJun 23, 2025
This Tuesday, June 24, 2025, the South Carolina Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in League of Women Voters of South Carolina v. Alexander, a landmark case brought by the ACLU, ACLU-SC, and League of Women Voters. Filed in July 2024, the lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of the state’s 2022 congressional map, which plaintiffs argue was drawn with the express aim of strengthening the Republican majority in the First Congressional District. They contend this map intentionally shifts Democratic-leaning populations, particularly Black voters, out of the district, violating Article 1, Section 5 of the South Carolina Constitution, which guarantees "free and open" elections…
Partisan Gerrymandering, South Carolina, , ,
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Reform Group Urges West Virginia to End Prison Gerrymandering Before 2030 Census

Reform Group Urges West Virginia to End Prison Gerrymandering Before 2030 Census

By EditorJun 23, 2025
The reform group Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) has reignited calls for West Virginia to address prison gerrymandering, a redistricting practice that counts incarcerated people as residents of prison locations rather than their home communities. This approach, used during the last redistricting cycle, disproportionately skews representation in districts that house correctional facilities. According to the PPI, some legislative districts in the state have prison populations making up as much as 18% of their total count, meaning those districts have significantly fewer actual residents with voting power compared to others. Reform advocates argue that this violates the foundational democratic principle of equal…
Redistricting Prisoners, West Virginia, , , ,
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From Polk to Johnson: Iowa’s Quiet Redistricting Revolution at the County Level

From Polk to Johnson: Iowa’s Quiet Redistricting Revolution at the County Level

By EditorMar 01, 2025
Iowa’s 2020-cycle state maps drew the headlines, but the past four years have also reshaped local power centers across the state. Polk County, home to Des Moines and more than half a million residents, used the Legislative Services Agency (LSA) for the first time to redraw its five Board of Supervisors districts. Draft lines released in February 2022 paired two long-time incumbents and, according to one UVA analysis, created two genuine toss-up seats, raising the prospect of the county’s first GOP majority in decades. Public hearings that spring highlighted concern over Des Moines high-school clusters and partisan balance, but supervisors…
Iowa, Local Redistricting,
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U.S. Supreme Court Leaves North Dakota House Districts in Place Against Racial Gerrymandering Challenge

U.S. Supreme Court Leaves North Dakota House Districts in Place Against Racial Gerrymandering Challenge

By EditorJan 14, 2025
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the legislature's creation of subdistricts within North Dakota House districts 4 and 9 in 2021. The lawsuit had claimed that the subdistricts - drawn to avoid vote dilution in the Native American populations within the Turtle Mountain and Fort Berthold Reservations - were unconstitutional racial gerrymanders. A federal three-judge panel in North Dakota dismissed the lawsuit in 2023 and the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the plaintiffs' appeal, leaving the federal district court decision in place. Interestingly, the North Dakota Secretary of State reversed course during the litigation and notified the U.S. Supreme Court that…
North Dakota, Racial Gerrymandering,
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Is Louisiana “Begrudgingly” Defending the State’s 2024 Congressional Map?

Is Louisiana “Begrudgingly” Defending the State’s 2024 Congressional Map?

By EditorJan 07, 2025
Louisiana's 2022 congressional map faced a Section 2 vote dilution challenge because it had only one majority-Black district out of 6 in a state where one-third of the population is Black. The lawsuit was successful in that a preliminary injunction was granted on the basis that it was likely that the map violated Section 2 if the case were to go to trial. Louisiana passed a new map with two majority Black districts in early 2024. However, the new map brought new litigation alleging that the 2024 map was an illegal racial gerrymander. A divided federal panel ruled that it…
Racial Gerrymandering, , ,
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Census Bureau to Hold Webinar on Release of 2020 Census Detailed Demographic and Housing Characteristics File B

Census Bureau to Hold Webinar on Release of 2020 Census Detailed Demographic and Housing Characteristics File B

By EditorJul 16, 2024
July 09, 2024 Press Release Number CB24-CN.16 JULY 9, 2024 —The U.S. Census Bureau will hold a prerelease webinar July 23 to discuss information about the 2020 Census Detailed Demographic and Housing Characteristics File B (Detailed DHC-B) scheduled for public release Aug. 1. This data product provides household type and tenure (whether the household is owner or renter-occupied) information, including total household counts, for approximately 1,500 detailed race and ethnicity groups and detailed American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) tribes and villages. Data will be available for the nation, states, counties, places (cities and towns), census tracts, and American Indian/Alaska Native/Native Hawaiian (AIANNH)…
Census Data and Geography, , ,
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The 2030 Census Advisory Committee will Meet in July. View the Agenda

The 2030 Census Advisory Committee will Meet in July. View the Agenda

By EditorJul 15, 2024
The 2030 Census Advisory Committee will meet on Friday, July 26, 2024. The meeting will be virtual and will take place between 10:30 am and 5:30 pm. This is the link to the live video feed. About the CAC The 2030 Census Advisory Committee (2030 CAC) will review and provide feedback related to 2030 Census plans and execution to assist the Census Bureau to devise strategies to increase census awareness and participation, reduce barriers to response, and enhance the public’s trust and willingness to respond. The CAC consists of 23 members representing stakeholder organizations, groups, interest, and viewpoints. The 2030…
Census Data and Geography, ,
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