Redistricting
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Redistricting
Redistricting is an essential action when it comes to district allocation at the state level regarding population distribution, and it significantly affects the political sphere at both the local and national level. The activity is carried out in decade basis after the United States census with an objective of allotting the state seats as per the residents’ population which varies from time to time. In some instances, the number of seats increase, remain constant or be reduced relative to the population variation. An excellent example of the effects of redistricting is the case of 2012 elections of the United States where the Democratic candidates were generally cast more votes than the Republicans, but when it comes to the House Seats, the Republicans had the majority taking up to fifty-five percent (Aaron 2011). These results were instigated by the action Republicans winning a higher number of government seats at 2010, hence having vast political influence in re-drawing the congressional lines.
With redistricting, the issue is not whether the state will gain or lose the number of districts but equilibrating the number of residents or bringing them as close as possible as it is a strategic system of facilitating good governance. The act of re-drawing the district lines is done through the normal legislative process where the states legislature drafts and passes the bills and it can also be done through independent commissions depending with the strategies adopted by the state. The redistricting timetable is not set at the national level as it depends on the individual state’s schedule. It is of great significance as it affects the lawmakers and is done after ten years in many states where lots of funds are used primarily by the political parties trying to dominate as it will consequently influence the election results especially when it comes to the number state seats.
Gerrymandering is an essential terminology in redistricting which involves drawing a political district in odd shape for political purposes such as bringing together communities having the same cultural, political and racial basis with the intention of preserving the legislative seat of an incumbent. There are some isolated cases known as mid-decade redistricting where the district lines are drawn before ten years are over. There is the need of adopting effective strategies at the state level as in some instances the redistricting action is faced by challenges where many cases remain in courts unsettled when the drafted bills are not passed at the legislature.
References
“Congressional Redistricting Explained With Pizza”. Youtube, 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUOKeyElzog. Accessed 23 Nov 2018.
2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/redistricting-explained/2011/05/27/AGWsFNGH_story.html. Accessed 23 Nov 2018.
