Redistricting commission
In the United States of America, 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 comprise the commission drawing district boundaries. However, a number of these commissions, much like some state boards of election, are set up to give the majority party more seats on the commission, or effective control of the commission.
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. 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.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 this table:
- 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 of the membership of the commission is reserved for political independents or members of so-called Third Parties.
| State | Redistricting Jurisdiction | Redistricting Type | Redistricting Process | Legal Authority |
| Iowa | Congressional & Legislative districts | Non-partisan | Iowa conducts redistricting unlike any other state. The Iowa system does not put the task in the hands of a commission, but rather non-partisan legislative staff develop maps for the Iowa House and Senate, as well as U.S. House districts, without any political or election data. A 5-person advisory commission is also formed. This is different from all other states. The redistricting plans from the non-partisan legislative staff are then presented to the Iowa Legislature for a straight 'Up' or 'Down' vote; if the Legislature rejects the redistricting plans, the process starts over. Detailed descriptions of the Iowa system are available from the Iowa Legislature. | Iowa Constitution Article III, § 37, and Article III, § 34, § 35, § 36 & § 38 |
Additionally, Maine and Vermont use advisory committees for redistricting. Connecticut, Illinois, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas use backup redistricting commissions, if efforts at redistricting via the usual legislative process fail.