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WikiProject Political Parties
The process known as redistricting in the United States and redistribution in many Commonwealth countries is the changing of political borders. An election is a Decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold formal office Politics Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions Sortition, also known as allotment, is an equal-chance method of selection by some form of lottery such as drawing coloured pebbles from a bag A by-election or bye-election (called special election in the United States) is an Election held to fill a political office that has become vacant Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an Election. A show election or a sham election is an Election that is held purely for show that is without any significant political purpose A Fixed-term election is an Election that occurs on a set date and cannot be changed by the incumbent politician A general election is an Election in which all or most members of a given political body are up for election A primary election ( nominating primary) also referred to simply as a primary, is an election in which voters in a Jurisdiction select candidates Indirect election is a process in which voters in an Election do not actually choose between candidates for an office but rather elect persons who will then make the choice Local Elections vary widely across Jurisdictions In Electoral systems that roughly follow the Westminster model, a terminology has evolved A referendum (plural referendums or referenda) ballot question, or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita Apportionment is the process of allocating political power among a set of principles (or defined constituencies In multiple-party democratic primary elections crossover voting refers to a technique used by voters in which ballots are cast for the party a voter is opposed to in order to elect Gerrymandering is a form of redistribution in which electoral district or Constituency boundaries are manipulated for electoral advantage The secret ballot is a voting method in which a Voter 's choices are confidential Suffrage (from the Latin suffragium, meaning "voting tablet" and figuratively "right to vote" probably from suffrago "hough" and originally A political party is a Political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within Government, usually by participating in electoral A voting system allows voters to choose between options often in an Election where candidates are selected for public office. Elections by country gives information on Elections For each De jure and De facto sovereign state and dependent territory The list of election results by country gives information on Elections For each De jure and De facto sovereign state and The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Borders define geographic boundaries of political entities or legal jurisdictions such as Governments States or subnational administrative Often this means changing electoral district and constituency boundaries, usually in response to periodic census results. A constituency is any cohesive corporate unit or body bound by shared structures goals or loyalty A constituency is any cohesive corporate unit or body bound by shared structures goals or loyalty A census is the procedure of acquiring information about every member of a given population This takes place by law or constitution at least every decade in most representative democracy systems using first-past-the-post or similar electoral systems to prevent geographic malapportionment. Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society A constitution is a system for government often Codified as a written document that establishes the rules and principles of an autonomous political entity A decade is a period of 10 Years (since 1594 a factor of 10 difference between two numbers, or sometimes a set or a group of ten (since 1451 Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principles of the people's representatives The plurality voting system is a Single-winner voting system often used to elect executive officers or to elect members of a legislative assembly which is based on single-member Apportionment is the process of allocating political power among a set of principles (or defined constituencies
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Australia
In Australia, redistributions are carried out by independent and non-partisan commissioners in the Commonwealth and each state or territory. The term redistribution is used in Australia to mean a redrawing of electoral boundaries For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The English noun commonwealth dates from the fifteenth century. The various electoral acts require the population of each seat to be equal with certain strictly limited variations.
Canada
See: Historical federal electoral districts of Canada
South Africa
In South Africa, redistricting is carried out by the Municipal Demarcation Board. This is a list of past arrangements of Canada's electoral districts. The Municipal Demarcation Board is an independent authority responsible for delimiting the boundaries of South African districts and municipalities and the
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, four Boundary Commissions (one each for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) are responsible for reviewing the boundaries of Parliamentary constituencies, within guidelines set by Parliament. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Northern Ireland (Tuaisceart Éireann Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann) is a Country within the United Kingdom, lying in the northeast of
United States
In 36 states, the state legislature has primary responsibility for creating a redistricting plan, in many cases subject to approval by the state governor. In the United States of America, a state legislature is a generic term referring to the legislative body of any of the country's 50 states. A governor is a governing official usually the executive (at least nominally to different degrees also politically and administratively of a non-sovereign level of government To reduce the role that legislative politics might play, 5 states (Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, New Jersey and Washington), carry out congressional redistricting by an independent, bipartisan commission. The State of Arizona ( is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. The State of Hawaii ( or həˈwaɪʔiː Hawaiian: Mokuāina o Hawaii) is a state in the United States located on an Archipelago in the The State of Idaho ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States of America. New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. Washington ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Iowa and Maine give independent bodies authority to propose redistricting plans, but preserve the role of legislatures to approve them. The State of Iowa ( is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States of America. The State of Maine ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean Seven states avoid the issue completely because their low populations qualify them for only a single representative for the entire state; these are Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming. Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent Delaware ( is a state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Montana ( is a state in the Western United States. One-third of the state in the western part contains numerous mountain ranges (approximately 77 named of the northern North Dakota ( is a state located in the Midwestern and Western regions of the United States of America. South Dakota ( is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America. Vermont ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The State of Wyoming ( is a sparsely populated state in the western region of the United States. The state constitutions and laws also mandate which body has responsibility over drawing the state legislature boundaries. In addition, those municipal governments that are elected on a district basis (as opposed to at-large) also redistrict. A township (or Municipality) is a settlement which has the status and powers of a unit of local government For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government.
Each state has its own standards for creating Congressional and legislative districts. In addition to equalizing the population of districts and complying with Federal requirements, criteria may include attempting to create compact, contiguous districts, trying to keep political units and communities within a single district, and avoiding the drawing of boundaries for purposes of partisan advantage or incumbent protection. In the states where the legislature (or another body where a partisan majority is possible such as IL or OH) is in charge of redistricting, the possibility of gerrymandering (the deliberate manipulation of political boundaries for electoral advantage, usually of incumbents or a specific political party) often makes the process very politically contentious, especially when the two houses of the legislature, or the legislature and the governor, are from different parties. Gerrymandering is a form of redistribution in which electoral district or Constituency boundaries are manipulated for electoral advantage A political party is a Political organization that seeks to attain and maintain political power within Government, usually by participating in electoral The state and federal court systems are often involved in resolving disputes over Congressional and legislative redistricting when gridlock prevents redistricting in a timely manner. In addition, the losers to an adopted redistricting plan often challenge it in state and federal courts. Justice Department approval (which is known as preclearence) is required under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in certain states that have had a history of racial barriers to voting. For animal rights group see Justice Department (JD The United States Department of Justice ( DOJ) is a Cabinet department Background See also [[Disfranchisement after the Civil War]] The 13th Amendment, ratified in 1865 after the Civil War, abolished and prohibited
Partisan domination of state legislatures and improved technology to design contiguous districts that pack opponents into as few districts as possible have led to district maps which are skewed towards one party. So many states (including Texas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia and Maryland) have succeeded in removing competition for most House seats in those states that it has deadened competition for House seats nationally. Other states (New York, New Jersey, California) have opted to protect incumbents of both parties, again reducing the number of competitive districts. The Supreme Court's ruling on the Pennsylvania gerrymander in Vieth v. Jubelirer [1] effectively cemented the right of elected officials to choose their constituents, and it is up to a small number of competitive districts in a small number of states to determine majority control of Congress, since each party has about 190 districts which have very little likelihood of changing party control. Vieth v Jubelirer, 541 US 267 ( 2004) was a United States Supreme Court case The 2003 redistricting in Texas and the mid-decade redistricting in Georgia established the precedent of allowing the majority party in state governments to redraw the boundaries to favor the election of the majority-party candidates in subsequent elections. The 2003 Texas redistricting refers to a highly controversial congressional Redistricting plan appealed to the United States Supreme Court in League of United
See also
External links
- A guide to Boundary Delimitation a series of articles from the ACE Project
- Reapportionment and Redistricting in the U.S. — from the ACE Project
- Boundary Delimitation in the Legal Framework of Elections — from the International IDEA publication International Electoral Standards: Guidelines for reviewing the legal framework of elections
- Redistribution Overview from the Australian Electoral Commission
- Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission
- State redistricting links — list of links to state redistricting websites
- District sizes and other data from 1900-2000
- U.S. House of Representatives — District apportionment 1790 to 2000
- State by state breakdown of redistricting methods
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