Redistricting in the U.S. House of Representatives Elections

Abstract

Every 10 years, the United States conducts population census. Beyond serving various socio-economic needs, gathered data also has consequnces for the political system – the states’ population determines the number of state seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. To ensure fair representation, consisent with ‘one person, one vote’ rule, the states modify the boundaries of congressional districts after each census. The article discusses federal and state rules that bodies responsible for redistricting – mainly state legislatures and special commissions – need to consider, emphasizing the nature and scope of legal changes, introduced between 2011 and 2020. The Author claims that defederalization of the redistricting regulations and Supreme Court opinion that issues related to gerrymandering constitute political questions, thus being beyond the scope of federal judiciary are two most important redistricting-related rules developments in the analyzed decade.