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Redistricting commission

Body established to draw electoral district boundaries

|The Ohio Constitution requires that redistricting votes in the Ohio Legislature be bipartisan, with a minimum number of votes required from both parties for a redistricting act to pass |Legislative reversal of the redistricting commission created by 2018 Utah Proposition 4 is the subject of a constitutionality lawsuit.

Congressional redistricting methods by state after the 2010 census:

State legislatures control redistricting

Commissions control redistricting

Nonpartisan staff develop the maps, which are then voted on by the state legislature

No redistricting due to having only one congressional district ]]

In the United States, a redistricting commission is a body, other than the usual state legislative bodies, established to draw electoral district boundaries. Generally the intent is to avoid gerrymandering, or at least the appearance of gerrymandering, by specifying a nonpartisan or bipartisan body to compose the commission that draws district boundaries.

Nonpartisan or bipartisan commissions as of 2010

Currently, 21 U.S. states have some form of non-partisan or bipartisan redistricting commission. Of these 21 states, 13 use redistricting commissions to exclusively draw electoral district boundaries (see below). A 14th state, Iowa, uses a special redistricting process that uses neither the state legislature nor an independent redistricting commission to draw electoral district boundaries (see below).

In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission that redistricting commissions such as Arizona's, whose redistricting commission process is independent of the state legislature, were constitutional.

;Table key For purposes of these tables:

Bipartisan means a substantial majority of the commission's membership is reserved for members of the two major U.S. political parties.
Non-partisan means that either, a) the partisan makeup of the commission is not specified beforehand, or b) a substantial portion (i.e. more than one) of the membership of the commission is reserved for political independents or members of so-called third parties.

Type	State & commission	Commission jurisdiction	Commission type & voting
Congressional & legislative districts	Bipartisan;
majority-rules	5	The commission on appellate court appointees creates a pool of 25 nominees, ten from each of the two largest parties and five not from either of the two largest parties. The highest-ranking officer of the House appoints one from the pool, then the minority leader of the House appoints one, then the highest-ranking officer of the Senate appoints one, then the minority leader of the Senate appoints one. These four appoint a fifth from the pool, not a member of any party already represented on the commission, as chair. If the four deadlock, the commission on appellate court appointments appoints the chair.	Arizona Constitution
Article 4, pt. 2, § 1
Congressional, legislative, BoE districts	Non-partisan;
super-majority (majority of each group) needed	14	The commission was established in 2010 and consists of 14 members: 5 Democrats, 5 Republicans, and 4 members from neither party. Government auditors select 60 registered voters from an applicant pool. Legislative leaders can reduce the pool; the auditors then pick 8 commission members by lottery, and those commissioners pick six additional members for the 14 total. For approval, district boundaries need votes from 3 Democratic commissioners, 3 Republican commissioners, and 3 commissioners from neither party.	California Constitution
Article XXI
Congressional & legislative districts	Bipartisan;
majority-rules	9	No commission member may run for the legislature in the two elections following redistricting. President of the Senate selects two; Speaker of the House selects two. Members of each house belonging to the party or parties different from that of the president or the speaker shall designate one of their number for each house, and the two so designated shall each select two [more?] members of the commission. These eight select the ninth member, who is the chair.	Hawaii Constitution
Article IV
Congressional & legislative districts	Bipartisan;
2/3 super-majority required	6	Leaders of two largest political parties in each house of the legislature each designate one member; chairs of the two parties whose candidates for governor received the most votes in the last election each designate one member. No member may be an elected or appointed official in the state at the time of designation.	Idaho Constitution
Article III, § 2
Legislative & congressional districts	Bipartisan;
majority-rules(?)	5	No member may be a public employee or official; members cannot run for public office in the two years after the completion of redistricting. Majority and minority leaders of both houses of the Legislature each select one member; those four select a fifth, who is the chair of the commission.	Montana Constitution
Article IV, § 14
Congressional & legislative districts	Bipartisan;
majority rules	Congressional:
13
Legislative:
10 (or 11)	Redistricting Commission: The commission has 13 members. The President of the Senate and Assembly Speaker each name two members; the minority leaders of both houses each name two members; and the state's Democratic and Republican party chairpersons each name two members. The 12 members then select a 13th "tie-breaking" member to chair the commission; if they cannot agree on the 13th member, then each party submits a name to the state's Supreme Court, which then chooses one of the submissions as the 13th member.
Apportionment Commission: The chairs of the two major parties each select five members. If these 10 members cannot develop a plan in the allotted time, the chief justice of the state Supreme Court will appoint an 11th member.	New Jersey Constitution
Article II, Sec. II & Article IV, Sec. III
Congressional & legislative districts	Bipartisan;
majority (of 4) rules	5
(only 4 voting)	No elected official and no person elected to legislative district, county, or state political party office may serve on the commission. Majority and minority leaders of the House and Senate each select one member. These four select a non-voting fifth member to chair the commission. If they fail to do so by January 31, the state Supreme Court will select the fifth member within five days. No commission member may be a public official.	Washington Constitution
Article II, § 43
Legislative districts	Non-partisan;
majority-rules	5	No member may be a public employee or official. Governor appoints two; president of the Senate appoints one; speaker of the House appoints one; chief justice of the Supreme Court appoints one. At least one member must be a resident of each judicial district.	Alaska Constitution
Article 6
Legislative districts	Non-partisan;
majority-rules	3	Commission consists of the state's governor, secretary of state, and attorney general.	Arkansas Constitution
Article 6
Legislative districts	Non-partisan;
Colorado Supreme Court must approve	11	Legislature selects four: (speaker of the House; House minority leader; Senate majority and minority leaders; or their delegates). Governor selects three. Judiciary selects four. Maximum of four from the legislature. Each congressional district must have at least one person, but no more than two people representing it on the commission. At least one member must live west of the Continental Divide.	Colorado Constitution
Article 5, § 48
Legislative districts	Bipartisan;
super-majorities required	Senate: 10
House: 18	No commission member may hold office in the legislature for four years after redistricting. There are two separate redistricting committees, one for each chamber of the legislature. Governor picks one person from each list of two submitted by the two main political parties in each congressional district to form the House committee; governor picks five people from two lists of 10 submitted by the two major political parties in the state to form the Senate committee.	Missouri Constitution
Article III, § 2 & § 7
Legislative districts	Non-partisan;
majority rules	5	Board consists of the governor, auditor, secretary of state, and two people selected by the legislative leaders of each major political party.	Ohio Constitution
Article XI, § 1
Legislative districts	Bipartisan;
majority rules	5	Majority and minority leaders of the legislative houses each select one member. These four select a fifth to chair. If they fail to do so within 45 days, a majority of the state Supreme Court will select the fifth member. The chair cannot be a public official.	Pennsylvania Constitution
Article II, § 17

Iowa is a special case:

State	Redistricting jurisdiction	Redistricting type	Redistricting process	Legal authority	Iowa
Congressional & legislative districts	Non-partisan	url=https://www.legis.iowa.gov/Resources/Redist/about.aspx	title=The Iowa Legislature - Iowa Redistricting - About Redistricting in Iowa	publisher=The Iowa Legislature	date=	access-date=2013-09-07}}	url=https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/ICP/1023054.pdf	title= Constitution of the State of Iowa	access-date=2021-09-20}} and
Article III, § 34, § 35, § 36 & § 38

Additionally, Maine and Vermont use advisory committees for redistricting. Connecticut, Illinois, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas have backup redistricting commissions, if efforts at redistricting via the usual legislative process fail.

2021 redistricting

In 2021, following the 2020 census, a number of states will begin using new, non-partisan commissions or systems to redraw their legislative and/or congressional districts

Type	State	Commission jurisdiction	Commission type	No. of members
Congressional districts	Non-partisan	12	4 Republicans, 4 Democrats, 4 unaffiliated voters; every congressional district will be represented; half will be chosen randomly; half will be chosen by a panel of judges considering factors such as gender, geography, ethnicity	Amendment Y (2018)
Legislative districts	Non-partisan	12	4 Republicans, 4 Democrats, 4 unaffiliated voters; every congressional district will be represented; half will be chosen randomly; half will be chosen by a panel of judges considering factors such as gender, geography, ethnicity	Amendment Z (2018)
Congressional and legislative districts	Non-partisan	13	4 Republicans, 4 Democrats, and 5 members who identify with neither party; no member can be a partisan officeholder, an employee of such an officeholder, or a lobbyist	Proposal 2 (2018)
Congressional and legislative districts	Bipartisan	10	2 Members appointed by the Temporary President of the State Senate, 2 appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, 2 appointed by the Minority leader of the State Senate, 2 appointed by the Minority leader of the Assembly, 2 appointed by the 8 legislatively appointed members. Neither member appointed by the 8 legislative appointees can be members of the 2 largest parties in the New York State Legislature. No member can be an elected partisan official, a partisan officer or employee, a lobbyist, be the chairman of a political party, or the spouse of a partisan elected official	Proposal 1 (2014)
Congressional and legislative districts	Non-partisan	16	4 Republicans, 4 Democrats, (2 delegates and 2 senators from each party) and 8 citizens	Question 1 (2020)
Congressional, legislative, and state school board districts	Non-partisan	7	1 member appointed by the governor; 3 appointed by the Republican leaders of the Utah legislature, 3 appointed by the Democratic leaders of the legislature; members cannot have participated in certain political activities for four or five years prior to their appointment	Proposition 4 (2018)
Congressional districts	Bipartisan	a) entire legislature	Redistricted maps for congressional districts will require support of 60% of members in both the Ohio House and Senate, including 1/2 of members in the minority party.	Issue 1 (2018)

References

Michael Wines. (July 11, 2024). "Utah’s Gerrymandered House Map Ignored Voters’ Will, State Supreme Court Says". [[The New York Times]].
(June 28, 2008). "2009 Redistricting Commission Table". [[National Conference of State Legislatures]] (NCSL).
(June 29, 2015). "ARIZONA STATE LEGISLATURE v. ARIZONA INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSION ET AL.". Supreme Court of the United States.
"Arizona State Legislature".
"CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION ARTICLE 21 REDISTRICTING OF SENATE, ASSEMBLY, CONGRESSIONAL AND BOARD OF EQUALIZATION DISTRICTS".
"THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF HAWAII ARTICLE IV REAPPORTIONMENT".
"CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ARTICLE III LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT".
"Constitution of Montana -- Article V -- THE LEGISLATURE – Section 14".
"NEW JERSEY STATE CONSTITUTION 1947 (UPDATED THROUGH AMENDMENTS ADOPTED IN NOVEMBER, 2012) ARTICLE II ELECTIONS AND SUFFRAGE SECTION II".
"NEW JERSEY STATE CONSTITUTION 1947 (UPDATED THROUGH AMENDMENTS ADOPTED IN NOVEMBER, 2012) ARTICLE IV LEGISLATIVE SECTION III".
"Washington State Constitution".
"Alaska Constitution - Article 6 - Legislative Apportionment".
"Constitution of the State of Arkansas of 1874".
"Colo. Const. Art. V, Section 48 - COLORADO REVISED STATUTES".
"Missouri Constitution Article III LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT Section 2".
"Missouri Constitution Article III LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT Section 7".
"The Ohio Constitution [The 1851 Constitution with Amendments to 2011]".
"Constitution of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania".
"The Iowa Legislature - Iowa Redistricting - About Redistricting in Iowa". The Iowa Legislature.
"LEGISLATIVE GUIDE TO REDISTRICTING IN IOWA". The Iowa Legislature.
"Constitution of the State of Iowa".
"Colorado election: Amendments Y and Z pass, changing the way Colorado does redistricting".
Egan, Paul. (2018-09-21). "Proposal 2 in Michigan: Pros and cons, what gerrymandering is".
"Michigan voters approve anti-gerrymandering Proposal 2".
"Ballotpedia, New York Redistricting Commission Amendment, Proposal 1 (2014)".
"Ballotpedia, Virginia Redistricting Commission Amendment".
(2018-11-02). "A voter's guide to Proposition 4: redistricting in Utah".
"They've wiped out Prop 2 and Prop 3, but lawmakers say Utah's anti-gerrymandering initiative may survive — for now".
"Ohio voters just approved Issue 1 to curb gerrymandering in Congress".

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