Political boundaries

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Redistricting
State-by-state
redistricting procedures
Majority-minority districts
Congressional district demographics
United States census,
2020

In redistricting, political boundaries are the boundaries of other governments, such as cities, towns, or counties, and political divisions, such as city council wards or state legislative districts. In drawing electoral districts, a state may take these political boundaries into account in order to keep existing constituencies within one district rather than splitting them across multiple districts.[1]

A total of 42 states require state legislative districts to take political boundaries into account; 19 states take political boundaries into account when drawing congressional districts. It is not strictly required that a district follow political boundaries, as this might be impossible due to competing factors (e.g., the population of a city that spans more than one county).[1]

## See also[edit]

* Contiguity
* Community of interest
* Compactness
* State-by-state redistricting procedures

## External links[edit]

* National Conference of State Legislatures, "Redistricting"

## Footnotes[edit]

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 All About Redistricting, Where are the lines drawn?" accessed June 23, 2017

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