Redistricting: Redistricting Commissions: Current State CommissionsStates with redistricting commissions ALASKA:
Alaska has a five-member bipartisan redistricting commission which has exclusive authority over map-drawing following each decennial census. Members are appointed by party leaders in the legislature, the Governor, and the chief justice of the state Supreme Court.
Click here to view the full text of the bill.
ARIZONA:
Arizona has a redistricting commission which consists of five members: two Democrats, two Republicans, and one Independent. Members have exclusive authority over the plan and are appointed by the Arizona state legislature following each decennial census.
Click here to view the full text of the bill.
COLORADO:
Colorado has an eleven-member redistricting commission which is appointed every ten years by the Governor, the state legislature, and the state Supreme Court. No more than six of the members may be from the same party. The proposed plan must be approved by the Supreme Court before it can become law.
Click here to view the full text of the bill.
HAWAII:
Hawaii has a nine-member commission appointed by the legislature, a new commission is appointed every ten years. Members are appointed by Democratic and Republican party leaders in the state legislature, 4 from each major party. The commission then elects the 9th member who is the chairperson by majority vote. The commission has exclusive authority over the map.
Click here to view the full text of the bill.
IDAHO:
Idaho has a six member bipartisan redistricting commission which is appointed whenever there is a need for reapportionment. There are no rules forbidding mid-decade re-redistricting but all redistricting is carried out by an appointed commission. Each new redistricting effort requires a new commission. Members are appointed by Republican and Democratic party leaders in the state legislature. The commission has exclusive authority over the drawing of the map.
Click here to view the full text of the bill.
IOWA:
The Iowa system does not put the task of redistricting in the hands of an independent commission, but rather the legislature does vote on the plans. Nonpartisan legislative staff develop maps for the Iowa House and Senate as well as U.S. House districts free from any political or election data. The maps are then submitted to the legislature for approval. The state Supreme Court has jurisdiction to approve maps in the event the legislature cannot agree on a plan.
Click here to view the full text of the bill.
MISSOURI:
There are two redistricting commissions, one for state legislative seats and one for Congressional seats. The Governor chooses one person from lists submitted by the two main political parties in each congressional district to form the 18 member house committee. The Governor picks five people from lists submitted by the two major political parties in the state to form the 10 member senate committee. The state house committee is responsible for mapping out the state legislative districts and the state senate committee is responsible for mapping out the Congressional seats. No commission member may hold office in the legislature for four years after redistricting. The members have exclusive authority over the plans.
Click here to view the full text of the bill.
MONTANA:
Montana has a five-member redistricting commission appointed by party leaders of both houses of the state legislature. Members cannot be public officials and have exclusive authority over the plan.
Click here to view the full text of the bill.
NEW JERSEY:
New Jersey has a 12-member bipartisan redistricting commission appointed by party leaders in the state legislature and state party committee chairs. A thirteenth independent member, who is the chairperson, is elected by the last 7 commissioners by July 20th, if one is not appointed by this time the Supreme Court will do so. A finalized plan must be certified by the commission with 7 votes or more in order to be adopted. The members have exclusive authority over the plan.
Click here to view the full text of the bill.
PENNSYLVANIA:
Pennsylvania has a five member committee with exclusive authority over the plan. Democratic and Republican leaders of the legislative houses each select one member. These four members select a fifth to chair the committee. 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. The commission submits a preliminary plan for public comment within 90 days after the decennial census and has 30 days after that to make any changes. If no challenges to the final draft plan are filed by any party within 30 days after the final draft is submitted, the commission's plan becomes binding.
Click here to view the full text of the bill.
WASHINGTON:
Washington has a 5-member redistricting commission appointed by party leadership in the House and Senate. These four select a non-voting chair of the commission. No commission member may be a public official. Members have exclusive authority over the plan.
Click here to view the full text of the bill.
Ohio and Arkansas also have redistricting commissions with primary authority over redistricting plans; however, these states' commissions are wholly comprised of elected officials rather than non-partisan or bi-partisan non-office-holding citizens. There are also many states that have either an advisory redistricting commission which advises lawmakers but has no voting power or a backup commission which takes over redistricting in the event that the legislature fails to adopt a plan within the given time frame. These examples are missing from our list due to the fact that they fail to ameliorate the extreme partisanship that has been such a large part of the redistricting process.
|
