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

Criteria for state legislative 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 state legislative 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
Nested
districts
Alabama Constitution Constitution Constitution
Alaska Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Arizona Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Arkansas Constitution Constitution Constitution
California Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Colorado Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Connecticut Constitution Constitution
Delaware Statute Statute Statute
Florida Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Georgia Constitution
Hawaii Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Idaho Constitution Statute Constitution Statute Statute
Illinois Statute Constitution Constitution
Indiana Constitution Constitution
Iowa Constitution Statute Constitution Constitution Statute Statute Statute
Kansas
Kentucky Constitution Constitution Constitution
Louisiana Constitution Joint Rule Joint Rule
Maine Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Statute
Maryland Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Massachusetts Constitution Constitution Constitution
Michigan Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Minnesota Constitution Constitution Statute Constitution
Mississippi Constitution Statute Statute
Missouri Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Montana Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Nebraska Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Nevada
New Hampshire Constitution Constitution Constitution
New Jersey Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
New Mexico Statute Statute
New York Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
North Carolina Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
North Dakota Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Ohio Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Oklahoma Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Oregon Statute Statute Constitution Constitution Statute Statute Constitution
Pennsylvania Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Rhode Island Constitution Statute Constitution Statute Statute Statute
South Carolina
South Dakota Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Tennessee Statute Constitution
Texas Constitution Constitution Constitution
Utah Statute Statute Statute Statute Statute Statute Statute Statute
Vermont Statute Constitution Constitution Constitution Statute
Virginia Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Statute Statute
Washington Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution Statute Constitution Statute
West Virginia Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Wisconsin Constitution Constitution Constitution Constitution
Wyoming