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Prof. Justin Levitt's Doug Spencer's Guide to Drawing the Electoral Lines

Criteria for congressional districts

2020 Congress       2020 State Legislature

2010 Congress         2010 State Legislature

 

The table below shows the different criteria that redistricting bodies in the 2020 redistricting cycle will consider when they draw congressional lines, and the state law sources for those criteria.

In most states, these standards must be followed only as closely “as is practicable,” leaving substantial flexibility to the redistricting body—but in some states, state law is more specific or more constraining.  The links lead to the specific legal provisions, and more information is available in the writeup for each state—just click on the state’s name.

In every state, these standards are always subordinate to federal equal population limits and to the federal Voting Rights Act.

A blank space indicates that the state does not have a particular legal provision on the issue in question, at least as far as I am aware.

 

State law on
equal pop.
State law on
race/ethnicity
Contiguity Compactness Political
boundaries
Communities
of interest
Electoral
outcomes
Alabama
Alaska One congressional district
Arizona Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Arkansas
California Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Colorado Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Connecticut
Delaware One congressional district
Florida Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Georgia
Hawaii Statute Statute Statute Statute Statute
Idaho Statute Statute Statute Statute
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa Statute Statute Statute Constitution Statute
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana Joint Rule Joint Rule Joint Rule
Maine Statute Statute Statute Statute
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Minnesota Statute Statute Statute
Mississippi
Missouri Constitution Constitution Constitution
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
North Carolina Constitution
North Dakota One congressional district
Ohio Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Oklahoma
Oregon Statute Statute Statute Statute Statute Statute
Pennsylvania Constitution
Rhode Island Statute Statute Statute Statute
South Carolina
South Dakota One congressional district
Tennessee
Texas
Utah Statute Statute Statute Statute Statute Statute Statute
Vermont One congressional district
Virginia Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Statute Statute
Washington Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Statute Constitution
West Virginia Constitution Constitution
Wisconsin
Wyoming One congressional district