Arizona relies on a five-member Independent Redistricting Commission (AIRC)-created by Proposition 106 in 2000- to draw its nine U.S. House districts. Legislative leaders choose two Republicans and two Democrats from a 25-person nominee pool curated by the Commission on Appellate Court Appointments; those four then pick an unaffiliated chair. The state constitution mandates a grid-map starting point, at least 30 days of public comment, and six ranked criteria that emphasize equal population, Voting Rights Act compliance, contiguity/compactness, communities of interest, clear boundaries, and, where it doesn’t undermine the other goals, competitiveness. After months of hearings, the AIRC adopted its final congressional map on January 18, 2022, and certified it days later, making it law for the 2022 cycle.

The state-legislative lines move through the same independent-commission framework, but the AIRC must produce 30 Senate districts that each nest two House seats. Following identical public comment and criteria requirements, the commission voted 3-2 on January 21, 2022, to certify the new legislative map. No court has altered that plan: an Open-Meeting-Law complaint lodged with the attorney general ended administratively. With no other litigation pending, the 2022 AIRC Senate and House districts have governed every election since and are expected to stand for the balance of the decade.

last updated: August 2025