Gerrymandering, Reapportionment, Redistricting

Racial gerrymandering Can race be used as a factor in drawing districts?

Following the Voting Rights Act of 1975 the Supreme Court made clear that certain designated Racial minorities (African-Americans and Hispanics) were protected groups.

What is the purpose of redistricting?

The overall purpose of redistricting is to review districts and where necessary redraw districts in order to address any changes in population concentration.

What does Reapportionment determine?

It determines how many seats each state will have for representation.

Redistricting

Re-drawing election districts Re-distributing legislative representatives in the TX house, TX senate, and US house in order to equalize district populations.

Reapportionment

Recalculation of how many congressional districts each state will have based on the states population,

Describe Texas drama surrounding reapportionment & redistricting

Redistricting : failed to redraw U.S. House & State Board of Education districts, so federal judges did. Failed to make maps after census of 2000. prevented passage of maps Violated Voting Rights Act of 1965.

In Texas, who decides how the district lines will be drawn?

The State Legistlature

Gerrymandering

Unequal representation, drawing political boundaries to give your party a numeric advantage over an opposing party.