Why is congressional reapportionment important to the states

The total has remained at since then, except for a short period when two seats were temporarily added for the new states of Alaska and Hawaii. Apportionment based on the census reset the number of seats to Results of the census used for apportionment showed trends in society and culture. All people living in the U. The census counted overseas federal employees, both civilian and military, and their families as residents of their home states.

Any U. The total, ,,, was used to determine the number of House representatives each state would have for the next 10 years. Apportionment changes were due to the population relocating. People moved to the south and west from the northeast and midwest. Arguably, apportionment is most important because it leads to changes in congressional districts and House seats. After the census, the population of the average congressional district was , That is almost a nine percent increase since the previous census.

As a result, each member of Congress represented more people. In addition, 12 of the House seats shifted. Eight states in the south and west gained seats, which meant additional votes in Congress. However, nine northeast and midwest states, along with Louisiana, lost seats, and therefore, congressional votes. Living in upstate New York, Susan Sherwood is a researcher who has been writing within educational settings for more than 10 years.

She has co-authored papers for Horizons Research, Inc. Sherwood has a Ph. Regardless of how old we are, we never stop learning. Classroom is the educational resource for people of all ages. The Democrats hid out in Oklahoma in a Holiday Inn, under assumed names. Until now, redistricting has not been one of them. When the lines were ultimately drawn, they moved about , Latino voters out of one district in order to protect an incumbent who was beginning to lose the support of the Latino population.

Latinos had recently become the majority of the eligible population in the district, when they were replaced by voters more likely to support the incumbent. In , Texas had another opportunity to redraw district lines. The legislature effectively did the same thing, in the same place, to the same Latino voters.

In , race riots in Los Angeles took a heavy financial toll on businesses in many neighborhoods, including the area known as Koreatown. The redistricting map, it appeared, had fractured Koreatown — an area barely over one square mile — into four City Council districts and five state Assembly districts. As a result, no legislator felt responsible to the Asian-American community.

Goodwill poisoned by the redistricting process can spill over into the entire rest of the legislative term. Indeed, in Illinois, this sort of behavior seems well within the norm. In , in a dispute over the handling of a redistricting plan, a legislator on the floor of the Statehouse charged the Senate President — whereupon a legislative colleague and former Golden Gloves boxer punched him in the face.

New Feature! To download maps for offline use and create comparisons in other applications, visit the section Maps For Download. Find a State. Process National Overview Redistricting - What is redistricting? Home Process Redistricting Why should we care? Select a state for detailed information and criteria. Why should we care? On this page. Eliminating incumbents After the elections in Virginia, the Republicans who controlled the redistricting process targeted Richard Cranwell, the Democratic leader in the state House of Delegates, who had represented his constituents for 29 years.

Extreme partisan gain North Carolina is a deeply divided purple state: in , the Presidential race split ; in , it split ; in , it split Diluting minority votes After Democrats controlled Texas redistricting in the s, Republicans took charge in Splitting communities In , race riots in Los Angeles took a heavy financial toll on businesses in many neighborhoods, including the area known as Koreatown.