How the 2020 census data has started new gerrymandering battles
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Summary
All across the country, states are busy at work redrawing congressional lines that will help determine the balance of power in Washington for the next decade. To check in on the status of this reapportionment in some key states based on the new 2020 census data, Judy Woodruff is joined by David Wasserman of The Cook Political Report.
Important background:
By constitutional mandate, the census is conducted every 10 years and is intended to determine the numbers and locations of people living in the U.S., along with other useful demographic information.
One of the most immediate effects of the census is that the population of states is used to determine
apportionment
, or how many representatives each state gets in Congress as well as how many electoral votes each state is awarded for presidential elections.
Redistricting
refers to the process whereby states determine the geographical borders between districts represented by members of Congress and state representatives. When partisans control the redistricting process, they often
gerrymander
districts, which involves drawing district boundaries for maximum political advantage.
Five Facts
Who
is interviewed in this piece, and what is his background?
What
is reapportionment according to this piece, and how are districts determined?
Why
is redistricting a political process, according to Wasserman?
How
do the results of the census impact redistricting?
What
might competitive districts decrease by as much as a third for the next election cycle, according to Wasserman?
Focus Questions
According to this piece, some states have independent commissions draw district lines, and others rely on state legislatures to draw district lines, which tend to favor the party in power in those legislatures. What system do you think would be most fair to ensure voters have appropriate representation in Congress?
Media literacy:
What was most unclear or confusing about the guest experts' explanation of redistricting and reapportionment? How could you find out more about what you don't yet know?
For More
Watch the video below to better understand gerrymandering and how different states adopt different rules for redistricting.
