At least nine states progressed in either proposing or advancing new congressional and state legislative district maps as part of the 2020 redistricting cycle between Oct. 13 and Oct. 20, 2021.
Proposed
Arizona: The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission released a new series of state legislative and congressional maps between Oct. 15 and Oct. 19. The commission released its first series of map drafts on Oct. 5. These maps cover the state’s congressional and state legislative districts. Since House and Senate districts use the same lines, the Commissions released one state legislative map as part of each series.
View the proposals here.
Hawaii: The Hawaii Reapportionment Commission’s Technical Committee Permitted Interaction Group presented map proposals for the state’s House and Senate districts to the commission on Oct. 14. The maps were presented separately for the islands of Hawaii, Kauai, Maui, and Oahu. Only a draft House map for Kauai was presented since the island has a single state Senate district.
View the proposals here.
Illinois: On Oct. 15, state legislative Democrats released their first congressional map proposal. Due to population decline, the state was apportioned 17 districts following the 2020 census, a decrease from 18 following the 2010 census.
Commentary surrounding the proposal has centered on implications in national politics. During the 2010 cycle, Republicans controlled the state’s redistricting process. Today, Democrats hold a trifecta in the state. The Chicago Tribune’s Rick Pearson wrote, “Illinois Democrats have been under pressure from interests including the party’s national campaign committee to maximize opportunities for Democratic seats.”
View the proposed map here.
South Carolina: On Oct. 16, the South Carolina Senate Judiciary Committee released a series of state Senate map plans proposed and submitted to the committee by outside organizations. Groups who submitted plans include the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund, the League of Women Voters of South Carolina, and several county Democratic parties.
Ultimately, the state legislature will decide on the final maps. A special session was initially scheduled to begin on Oct. 12, but it was later canceled in favor of a later start date, which has not yet been set. The ACLU and the South Carolina chapter of the NAACP filed a lawsuit against the state due to the delay.
View the proposals here.
Delaware: Democrats and Republicans in the state House released proposed maps for the state’s House districts on Oct. 13 and Oct. 15, respectively. Senate Democrats previously released a draft map proposal for the state’s Senate districts on Oct. 11.
Since Delaware was apportioned a single seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, there will be no congressional redistricting in the state in 2020.
View the proposed maps here.
Advanced
Hawaii: On Oct. 14, the Hawaii Reapportionment Commission voted to approve a map of the state’s two congressional districts. The commission was presented with two maps: one that would have left the existing district lines in place and an alternate proposal. The commission voted in favor of the alternate, which takes a piece of the 1st Congressional District along Oahu’s western coast and moves it into the 2nd Congressional District, which includes the northern portion of Oahu and the rest of the state.
The approved plan will now be made available for public comment with hard copies distributed to the state’s public libraries and election offices.
The commission has until Jan. 8, 2022, to release a public notice of its final proposed map plans, which must be filed by Feb. 27, 2022.
View the proposals here.
New Mexico: The New Mexico Citizen Redistricting Committee voted to recommend three congressional map proposals to the state legislature on Oct. 15. This is the first redistricting cycle featuring the Citizen Redistricting Committee, an advisory board signed into law by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) on Apr. 6, 2021.
The state legislature remains in control of the redistricting process, meaning proposals recommended by the Citizen Redistricting Committee are nonbinding. Instead, these proposals serve as the starting point for the legislature’s redistricting process.
View the proposals here.
Texas: The state House and Senate approved state legislative district maps for each other’s chambers on Oct. 15, sending them to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott (R). On Oct. 18, the legislature also approved a finalized version of the state’s congressional districts. Due to population growth, Texas gained two additional districts. Abbot may now either approve or veto the proposed maps.
Two lawsuits were filed against the proposed maps on Oct. 18. One, filed by a Texas inmate, said his assignment to a congressional district where he does not live violates his right to equal representation. Another, filed by a group of Latino civil rights organizations, said the maps diminished the voting power of Latino voters in violation of the Voting Rights Act. Learn more about both lawsuits here.
View the proposals here.
Vermont: On Oct. 15, the Vermont Legislative Apportionment Board (LAB) voted 4-3 to approve a map proposal for the state’s House districts. The proposal included 150 single-member districts, meaning an individual legislator would represent each.
This differs from the House’s current structure, which includes a mixture of single- and multi-member districts. In multi-member districts, voters elect more than one legislator to the chamber. The state Senate, which has not had any maps approved to date, uses single-member districts exclusively.
The approved proposals will now be distributed to local Boards of Civil Authority, who will have until Nov. 15 to provide feedback. After that, the LAB can consider comments and send a final map to the state legislature for approval.
Since Vermont was apportioned a single seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, there will be no congressional redistricting in the state in 2020.
View the proposed map here.
West Virginia: Proposed plans for West Virginia’s state Senate and congressional district lines advanced through the legislature over the past week. On Oct. 14, the state House voted to approve a congressional map plan proposed by the Joint Committee on Redistricting Chairman Sen. Charles Trump (R). This vote came one day after the Senate approved the plan on Oct. 13. The congressional map plan—which delineates the state’s two congressional districts, a decrease from three due to population decline—now heads to Gov. Jim Justice (R) for final approval.
On Oct. 19, the Senate also approved a proposed map of the state’s Senate districts. This proposal now advances to the state House.
View the proposals here.
Enacted
No new maps were enacted between Oct. 13 and Oct. 20.
As of Oct. 20, four states—Indiana, Maine, Nebraska, and Oregon—had enacted new congressional district maps. Those four states plus Ohio had also enacted new state legislative maps. Illinois also enacted new state legislative maps, but, in an Oct. 19 ruling, a federal court took control of the process and ordered interested parties to submit revisions to the enacted maps with a Nov. 8 deadline.