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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Redistricting Headlines Oct 14 2021: WV House Approves map. CO Commission Approves House and Senate Maps while State Supreme Court Reviews Congressional Plan.

Redistricting Headlines Oct 14 2021: WV House Approves map. CO Commission Approves House and Senate Maps while State Supreme Court Reviews Congressional Plan.

By EditorOct 14, 2021
A quick look at redistricting-related news across the USA. National: Gridlock and dysfunction — and a few tears — hit redistricting (politico.com) Colorado: Colorado independent redistricting committee approves House, Senate maps Colorado: Colorado Supreme Court hears oral arguments against new congressional redistricting map Florida: Legislators to limit public input before drawing new redistricting maps Michigan: See the 10 draft maps Michigan’s redistricting commission wants the public to consider Pennsylvania: Gov. Wolf’s Pennsylvania Redistricting Advisory Council Invites Public to Comment on Congressional Redistricting Texas: 50 years ago a battle over redistricting changed Texas (tpr.org) West Virginia: W.Va. House passes redistricting map…
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16 States Join in Alabama’s Challenge to the Census Bureau’s Data Privacy Program

By EditorApr 14, 2021
On Monday, 16 states joined Alabama in deriding the U.S. Census Bureau's newly adapted data privacy policy (aka differential privacy) which uses statistical algorithms to distort raw census data before it is released to states and the public. The states who jointly filed as amici in Alabama's lawsuit against the Bureau are Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, and Utah. The amicus brief filed on behalf of these states lists three "major harms" caused by differential privacy. 1) local redistricting cannot be conducted with any reasonable accuracy; 2)…
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West Virginia: Review of Litigation in the 2010 Redistricting Cycle

West Virginia: Review of Litigation in the 2010 Redistricting Cycle

By EditorMar 12, 2021
The U.S. Supreme Court reversed a lower court decision and upheld West Virginia's 2011 congressional map with population deviations between districts of .79 percent. Tennant v. Jefferson County, No. 11-1184, 567 U.S. 758 (Sep. 25, 2012) The Jefferson County Commission and residents of Jefferson County alleged that West Virginia’s 2011 congressional plan violated the “one-person, one-vote” principle of Article I, § 2, of the U.S. Constitution. West Virginia created a redistricting plan that had a maximum population deviation of 0.79 percent (the variance between the smallest and largest districts). The State conceded that it could have made a plan with less deviation,…
NEWS, Redistricting Litigation, State Laws
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