Redrawing Boundaries

The job of redrawing boundaries in most European countries is entrusted to independent commissions. Commissions typically try to create compact homogeneous districts without regard for voting preferences or incumbents. Six of the 43 states with multiple Congressional Districts utilize a nonpartisan commission to draw the boundaries: Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, New Jersey, and Washington.

In most U.S. states the job of redrawing boundaries is entrusted to the state legislature. The political party in control of the state legislature naturally attempts to redraw boundaries to improve the chances of its supporters to win. GIS has been an especially useful tool for creating gerrymandered districts. Only about one-tenth of congressional seats across the United States are competitive, making a shift of more than a few seats unlikely from one election to another in the United States, except in unusual circumstances.

Pennsylvania is an example of a state that has altered its Congressional Districts to eliminate gerrymandering. In 2018, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that the map drawn up by the state legislature violated the state constitution. The shape of District 7 was especially ridiculed for resembling Goofy kicking Donald Duck. The court gave the state legislature time to create a new map, but when the deadline passed without a map acceptable to the court, the court drew up its own map, which was used beginning with the 2018 election

(a) Gerrymandered, 2010-2016 (b) Pennsylvania Supreme Court remedy for gerrymandering, 2018.

Pause & Reflect 8.4.6

Does Pennsylvania’s redrawn map divide more or fewer counties among multiple districts? Why might this benefit citizens and elected officials?