# Voting districts **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 29, 2023, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806 "2023-07-29T21:11:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2023, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806/21 "2023-07-30T14:40:27Z")
In practice, I don’t think any of that ever happens. If a state fails to redistrict, a federal court will find that the lack of a new map is unconstitutional and appoint a special master to draw a new map. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2023, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806/22 "2023-07-30T15:02:22Z")
That only applies to the election after the decennial census if redistricting cannot be in time for the next election. Does not say, as penultimate\_thule did, that congressional districts are a choice for the States. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2023, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806/23 "2023-07-30T17:26:53Z")
[Ballotpedia has a comprehensive listing of all the state redistrictring committees](https://ballotpedia.org/Partisan_composition_of_redistricting_committees,_2020_cycle). Technically, the ones with “independent” or “citizen” in the title are not part of the state legislature. A quick look at their actual makeup shows that only a few live up to that claim. What that listing shows is that after Congress apportions a number of Representatives after each decennial census, state’s have enormous latitude in drawing up maps carving up their states. Except for the six with lowest population that are only entitled to a single at-large Representative. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2023, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806/24 "2023-07-30T18:58:58Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > But what is fair? How do Canadians define the word? Are there any protected classes? Do they ensure representation by minority populations? Compactness alone is a meaningless distinction. Best way to explain it is to look at the mandate of the boundary commission for each province: > [@](#): > > **Rules** > > **15** (1) In preparing its report, each commission for a province shall, subject to subsection (2), be governed by the following rules: > > (a) the division of the province into electoral districts and the description of the boundaries thereof shall proceed on the basis that the population of each electoral district in the province as a result thereof shall, as close as reasonably possible, correspond to the electoral quota for the province, that is to say, the quotient obtained by dividing the population of the province as ascertained by the census by the number of members of the House of Commons to be assigned to the province as calculated by the Chief Electoral Officer under subsection 14(1); and > > (b) the commission shall consider the following in determining reasonable electoral district boundaries: > > (i) the community of interest or community of identity in or the historical pattern of an electoral district in the province, and > > (ii) a manageable geographic size for districts in sparsely populated, rural or northern regions of the province. > > **Departure from rules** > (2) The commission may depart from the application of the rule set out in paragraph (1)(a) in any case where the commission considers it necessary or desirable to depart therefrom > > (a) in order to respect the community of interest or community of identity in or the historical pattern of an electoral district in the province, or > > (b) in order to maintain a manageable geographic size for districts in sparsely populated, rural or northern regions of the province, but, in departing from the application of the rule set out in paragraph (1)(a), the commission shall make every effort to ensure that, except in circumstances viewed by the commission as being extraordinary, the population of each electoral district in the province remains within twenty-five per cent more or twenty-five per cent less of the electoral quota for the province. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2023, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806/25 "2023-07-30T19:07:05Z")
How does Canada or any other place ensure that the districting commission is nonpartisan? Who selects the people on the commission, and why doesn’t politics play a role? What prevents them from becoming partisan? ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2023, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806/26 "2023-07-30T19:10:42Z")
Another thing that needs to be considered when drawing districts is that every precinct has to have the same ballot regardless of who is voting, so you can’t divide precincts unless you create new ones. I’m not sure how large of an issue that is, as I would think that creating new precincts isn’t that hard given that the vast majority of precincts in urban areas in my experience have multiple precincts voting at the same location. Presumably they want to have a reasonable number of people in each precinct to cut down on the overhead of producing the ballots which might need to be different from each precinct voting in the same location, and not have people change precincts, or at least voting locations, unless they actually change where they live. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2023, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806/27 "2023-07-30T19:12:27Z")
Each province’s commission is composed of a superior court judge from the courts of that province, a nominee of the party in power federally, and a nominee from the party making up the official opposition. Judges in Canada are non-partisan. They are not elected and are required to cut any political ties they may have had before being elected. There is strong public support for a non-partisan, non-gerrymandered, fair electoral map. There was a history of parties that ran gerrymanders being unsuccessful in elections. I can only remember one case where there was recorded opposition in the House of Commons to one of the proposed maps, but it was adopted even so. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2023, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806/28 "2023-07-30T19:14:40Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > Another thing that needs to be considered when drawing districts is that every precinct has to have the same ballot regardless of who is voting, so you can’t divide precincts unless you create new ones. This is not an issue in Canada. Federal elections are run separately from provincial elections, and provincial elections are run separately from municipal elections. The ballot is the same for the entire riding, and in my experience rarely has more than about half a dozen names on it. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2023, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806/29 "2023-07-30T19:18:54Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Gerrymandering is a term for setting the boundaries in such a way that your favored party will be guaranteed (or at least greatly expected) to win the vote. Gerrymandering is also done to create “majority minority” districts: congressional districts in which minority groups (typically Black or Hispanic) represent a majority of the voters in that district, and thus ensuring that the minority groups have a greater opportunity to be represented by members of their minority. Depending on where those minority groups live, this may lead to odd-looking districts, drawn to connect areas that aren’t otherwise contiguous. The congressional district where I live in suburban Chicago is a Hispanic minority-majority district, and drawn in such a way to connect several different regions where many Hispanics live: [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Illinois%27s_4th_congressional_district_%28since_2023%29.svg/1024px-Illinois%27s_4th_congressional_district_%28since_2023%29.svg.png) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4d/Illinois%27s_4th_congressional_district_%28since_2023%29.svg/1024px-Illinois%27s_4th_congressional_district_%28since_2023%29.svg.png) The issue with the Alabama case is that over 1/4 (27%) of Alabamians are Black; Alabama has seven Congressional districts, but only one of them (the 7th) is now drawn to be Black majority-minority. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2023, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806/30 "2023-07-30T19:22:05Z")
We don’t do majority-minority analysis in Canada. As the rules set out above indicate, it’s mainly just geographic. How does that work in the States, where you might have more than one minority (eg, racial, ethnic, linguistic) in an area? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2023, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806/31 "2023-07-30T19:29:24Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > How does that work in the States, where you might have more than one minority (eg, racial, ethnic, linguistic) in an area? In the Chicago area, for example, where there are large numbers of both Blacks and Hispanics, we have different minority-majority districts: two Black, and one Hispanic. This Wikipedia article lists the minority-majority U.S. congressional districts; depending on the state, there are Black, Hispanic, and Asian/Pacific Islander districts. > **[List of majority-minority United States congressional districts](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_majority-minority_United_States_congressional_districts)** > > A majority-minority district is an electoral district, such as a United States congressional district, in which the majority of the constituents in the district are racial or ethnic minorities (as opposed to Non-Hispanic whites in the U.S.). Race is collected through the decennial United States census. > Majority-minority districts may be created to avoid or remedy violations of the Voting Rights Act of 1965's prohibitions on drawing redistricting plans that diminish the ability of a racial or l... ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2023, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806/32 "2023-07-30T21:51:29Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > How does that work in the States, where you might have more than one minority (eg, racial, ethnic, linguistic) in an area? Historically, segregation is the norm for racial and ethnic groups. (Sometimes because of semi-official forced grouping and sometimes because groups preferentially seek others like them, no matter what the race, ethnicity, religion, etc.) Usually that makes drawing lines practicable. In kenobi’s link above only three of the 67 majority-minority districts have fewer than 50% of the minority. In those cases where two groups would intermix, battles occur. I don’t like the use of “gerrymandering” for court-ordered redress districts, even if the results are not geographically compact. That’s the opposite intent of gerrymandering. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2023, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806/33 "2023-07-30T23:18:44Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Judges in Canada are non-partisan. They are not elected and are required to cut any political ties they may have had before being elected. Could we trust a United States equivalent as much as we trust individuals nominated for the Supreme Court? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2023, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806/34 "2023-07-30T23:34:23Z")
We used to be able to before conservatives decided to change the rules. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2023, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806/35 "2023-07-31T00:01:07Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Could we trust a United States equivalent as much as we trust individuals nominated for the Supreme Court? I’ve personally met one (now former) Supreme Court of Canada Justice because her kids went to the same camp I did. Beyond that, virtually no one outside of the legal profession could name the SCC justices. It just doesn’t work that way here. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2023, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806/36 "2023-07-31T00:30:58Z")
When one of the Supreme Court of Canada judges retired several years ago, he was asked about politics on the Court. He said that he didn’t talk at all about how he voted in elections, and he did not know how his colleagues voted. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2023, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806/37 "2023-07-31T01:45:28Z")
Well none of this is working. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2023, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806/38 "2023-07-31T01:51:30Z")
([Maps](https://www.elections.on.ca/en/resource-centre/electoral-districts/current-electoral-district-maps.html#accordionONen)) for a provincial electoral map. Large PDF but you can see the Toronto ridings, for example, are almost regular polygons. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2023, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806/39 "2023-07-31T04:43:22Z")
> [@glowacks](#): > > How does Canada or any other place ensure that the districting commission is nonpartisan? Who selects the people on the commission, and why doesn’t politics play a role? What prevents them from becoming partisan? Like much else to do with constitutional matters in the UK, it relies on the “good chap” principle (that office-holders understand and behave according to the tacit spirit as well as the letter of the rules) - and public service professionalism (sorely tested by the likes of Boris Johnson, but that’s another issue). As well as statute law, there are formalised codes of conduct public servants must abide by. If there were sufficient perceptions of partisan shenanigans, I suppose it could end up in the courts, up to the Supreme Court, and with turmoil in the governing party in Parliament if enough of their MPs felt their seats would be at risk as a result. In the case of our Boundary Commissions, the work is chaired by a High Court judge, and Assistant Commissioners appointed through an open public appointments process, as professionals: [https://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/about-us/the-commissioners/](https://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/about-us/the-commissioners/) ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2023, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806/40 "2023-07-31T11:58:42Z")
Just to add that, in the UK, there are strong rules about the siting and design of polling stations. They must be easily accessible to the majority of the district - that means geographically and by public transport. They must also be accessible to people with disabilities. Constituency boundaries take no account of racial or ethnic groups but odd things can happen. The town where I live used to be in the corner of a large rural constituency. Rural communities are (perceived to be) more likely to vote conservative and this was thought to distort the Left/Right balance, where the townsfolk would (theoretically) be more likely to vote Labour. Boundaries were changed as the town grew, but it has more often returned a Conservative candidate than Labour. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voting-districts/987806.md?page=3)