redistricting procedures |
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2020 |
Redistricting is the process by which new congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn. Each of Oklahoma's five United States Representatives and 149 state legislators are elected from political divisions called districts. United States Senators are not elected by districts, but by the states at large. District lines are redrawn every 10 years following completion of the United States census. The federal government stipulates that districts must have nearly equal populations and must not discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity.[1][2][3][4]
See the sections below for further information on the following topics:
This section includes background information on federal requirements for congressional redistricting, state legislative redistricting, state-based requirements, redistricting methods used in the 50 states, gerrymandering, and recent court decisions.
What is redistricting and what does it entail? | |
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According to Article I, Section 4 of the United States Constitution, the states and their legislatures have primary authority in determining the "times, places, and manner" of congressional elections. Congress may also pass laws regulating congressional elections.[5][6]
“ | The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.[7] | ” |
—United States Constitution |
Article I, Section 2 of the United States Constitution stipulates that congressional representatives be apportioned to the states on the basis of population. There are 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives. Each state is allotted a portion of these seats based on the size of its population relative to the other states. Consequently, a state may gain seats in the House if its population grows or lose seats if its population decreases, relative to populations in other states. In 1964, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Wesberry v. Sanders that the populations of House districts must be equal "as nearly as practicable."[8][9][10]
The equal population requirement for congressional districts is strict. According to All About Redistricting, "Any district with more or fewer people than the average (also known as the 'ideal' population), must be specifically justified by a consistent state policy. And even consistent policies that cause a 1 percent spread from largest to smallest district will likely be unconstitutional."[10]
The United States Constitution is silent on the issue of state legislative redistricting. In the mid-1960s, the United States Supreme Court issued a series of rulings in an effort to clarify standards for state legislative redistricting. In Reynolds v. Sims, the court ruled that "the Equal Protection Clause [of the United States Constitution] demands no less than substantially equal state legislative representation for all citizens, of all places as well as of all races." According to All About Redistricting, "it has become accepted that a [redistricting] plan will be constitutionally suspect if the largest and smallest districts [within a state or jurisdiction] are more than 10 percent apart."[10]
In addition to the federal criteria noted above, individual states may impose additional requirements on redistricting. Common state-level redistricting criteria are listed below.
In general, a state's redistricting authority can be classified as one of the following:[12]
The term gerrymandering refers to the practice of drawing electoral district lines to favor one political party, individual, or constituency over another. When used in a rhetorical manner by opponents of a particular district map, the term has a negative connotation but does not necessarily address the legality of a challenged map. The term can also be used in legal documents; in this context, the term describes redistricting practices that violate federal or state laws.[1][13]
For additional background information about gerrymandering, click "[Show more]" below.
The phrase racial gerrymandering refers to the practice of drawing electoral district lines to dilute the voting power of racial minority groups. Federal law prohibits racial gerrymandering and establishes that, to combat this practice and to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act, states and jurisdictions can create majority-minority electoral districts. A majority-minority district is one in which a racial group or groups comprise a majority of the district's populations. Racial gerrymandering and majority-minority districts are discussed in greater detail in this article.[14]
The phrase partisan gerrymandering refers to the practice of drawing electoral district maps with the intention of favoring one political party over another. In contrast with racial gerrymandering, on which the Supreme Court of the United States has issued rulings in the past affirming that such practices violate federal law, the high court had not, as of November 2017, issued a ruling establishing clear precedent on the question of partisan gerrymandering. Although the court has granted in past cases that partisan gerrymandering can violate the United States Constitution, it has never adopted a standard for identifying or measuring partisan gerrymanders. Partisan gerrymandering is described in greater detail in this article.[15][16]The Supreme Court of the United States has, in recent years, issued several decisions dealing with redistricting policy, including rulings relating to the consideration of race in drawing district maps, the use of total population tallies in apportionment, and the constitutionality of independent redistricting commissions. The rulings in these cases, which originated in a variety of states, impact redistricting processes across the nation.
For additional background information about these cases, click "[Show more]" below.
In Gill v. Whitford, decided on June 18, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the plaintiffs—12 Wisconsin Democrats who alleged that Wisconsin's state legislative district plan had been subject to an unconstitutional gerrymander in violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendments—had failed to demonstrate standing under Article III of the United States Constitution to bring a complaint. The court's opinion, penned by Chief Justice John Roberts, did not address the broader question of whether partisan gerrymandering claims are justiciable and remanded the case to the district court for further proceedings. Roberts was joined in the majority opinion by Associate Justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan. Kagan penned a concurring opinion joined by Ginsburg, Breyer, and Sotomayor. Associate Justice Clarence Thomas penned an opinion that concurred in part with the majority opinion and in the judgment, joined by Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch.[17]
In Cooper v. Harris, decided on May 22, 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed the judgment of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, finding that two of North Carolina's congressional districts, the boundaries of which had been set following the 2010 United States Census, had been subject to an illegal racial gerrymander in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. Justice Elena Kagan delivered the court's majority opinion, which was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and Sonia Sotomayor (Thomas also filed a separate concurring opinion). In the court's majority opinion, Kagan described the two-part analysis utilized by the high court when plaintiffs allege racial gerrymandering as follows: "First, the plaintiff must prove that 'race was the predominant factor motivating the legislature's decision to place a significant number of voters within or without a particular district.' ... Second, if racial considerations predominated over others, the design of the district must withstand strict scrutiny. The burden shifts to the State to prove that its race-based sorting of voters serves a 'compelling interest' and is 'narrowly tailored' to that end." In regard to the first part of the aforementioned analysis, Kagan went on to note that "a plaintiff succeeds at this stage even if the evidence reveals that a legislature elevated race to the predominant criterion in order to advance other goals, including political ones." Justice Samuel Alito delivered an opinion that concurred in part and dissented in part with the majority opinion. This opinion was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Anthony Kennedy.[18][19][20]
Evenwel v. Abbott was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 2016. At issue was the constitutionality of state legislative districts in Texas. The plaintiffs, Sue Evenwel and Edward Pfenninger, argued that district populations ought to take into account only the number of registered or eligible voters residing within those districts as opposed to total population counts, which are generally used for redistricting purposes. Total population tallies include non-voting residents, such as immigrants residing in the country without legal permission, prisoners, and children. The plaintiffs alleged that this tabulation method dilutes the voting power of citizens residing in districts that are home to smaller concentrations of non-voting residents. The court ruled 8-0 on April 4, 2016, that a state or locality can use total population counts for redistricting purposes. The majority opinion was penned by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.[21][22][23][24]
Harris v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States in 2016. At issue was the constitutionality of state legislative districts that were created by the commission in 2012. The plaintiffs, a group of Republican voters, alleged that "the commission diluted or inflated the votes of almost two million Arizona citizens when the commission intentionally and systematically overpopulated 16 Republican districts while under-populating 11 Democrat districts." This, the plaintiffs argued, constituted a partisan gerrymander. The plaintiffs claimed that the commission placed a disproportionately large number of non-minority voters in districts dominated by Republicans; meanwhile, the commission allegedly placed many minority voters in smaller districts that tended to vote Democratic. As a result, the plaintiffs argued, more voters overall were placed in districts favoring Republicans than in those favoring Democrats, thereby diluting the votes of citizens in the Republican-dominated districts. The defendants countered that the population deviations resulted from legally defensible efforts to comply with the Voting Rights Act and obtain approval from the United States Department of Justice. At the time of redistricting, certain states were required to obtain preclearance from the U.S. Department of Justice before adopting redistricting plans or making other changes to their election laws—a requirement struck down by the United States Supreme Court in Shelby County v. Holder (2013). On April 20, 2016, the court ruled unanimously that the plaintiffs had failed to prove that a partisan gerrymander had taken place. Instead, the court found that the commission had acted in good faith to comply with the Voting Rights Act. The court's majority opinion was penned by Justice Stephen Breyer.[25][26][27]
In Oklahoma, both congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by the Oklahoma State Legislature. These lines may be vetoed by the governor.[32]
If the legislature is unable to approve a state legislative redistricting plan, a backup commission must draw the lines. The commission comprises the following seven members:[32]
The Oklahoma Constitution requires that state Senate district boundaries take into account "population, compactness, area, political units, historical precedents, economic and political interests, contiguous territory, and other major factors."[32]
The redistricting committee of the state House adopted redistricting guidelines similar to the senatorial district requirements described above. These guidelines apply to state House and congressional districts, as well. These guidelines may be amended by the state legislature at its discretion.[32]
States differ on how they count incarcerated persons for the purposes of redistricting. In Oklahoma, incarcerated persons are counted in the correctional facilities they are housed in.
Oklahoma comprises five congressional districts. The map to the right depicts Oklahoma's congressional district lines as drawn following the 2010 United States Census. The table below lists Oklahoma's current House representatives.
Office | Name | Party | Date assumed office | Date term ends |
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U.S. House Oklahoma District 1 | Kevin Hern | Republican | November 13, 2018 | January 3, 2023 |
U.S. House Oklahoma District 2 | Markwayne Mullin | Republican | January 3, 2013 | January 3, 2023 |
U.S. House Oklahoma District 3 | Frank Lucas | Republican | January 7, 2003 | January 3, 2023 |
U.S. House Oklahoma District 4 | Tom Cole | Republican | January 7, 2003 | January 3, 2023 |
U.S. House Oklahoma District 5 | Stephanie Bice | Republican | January 3, 2021 | January 3, 2023 |
Oklahoma comprises 48 state Senate districts and 101 state House districts. State senators are elected every four years in partisan elections. State representatives are elected every two years in partisan elections. To access the state Senate district maps approved during the 2010 redistricting cycle, click here. To access the state House district maps approved during the 2010 redistricting cycle, click here.[33][34]
There are conflicting opinions regarding the correlation between partisan gerrymandering and electoral competitiveness. In 2012, Jennifer Clark, a political science professor at the University of Houston, said, "The redistricting process has important consequences for voters. In some states, incumbent legislators work together to protect their own seats, which produces less competition in the political system. Voters may feel as though they do not have a meaningful alternative to the incumbent legislator. Legislators who lack competition in their districts have less incentive to adhere to their constituents’ opinions."[35]
In 2006, Emory University professor Alan Abramowitz and Ph.D. students Brad Alexander and Matthew Gunning wrote, "[Some] studies have concluded that redistricting has a neutral or positive effect on competition. ... [It] is often the case that partisan redistricting has the effect of reducing the safety of incumbents, thereby making elections more competitive."[36]
In 2011, James Cottrill, a professor of political science at Santa Clara University, published a study of the effect of non-legislative approaches (e.g., independent commissions, politician commissions) to redistricting on the competitiveness of congressional elections. Cottrill found that "particular types of [non-legislative approaches] encourage the appearance in congressional elections of experienced and well-financed challengers." Cottrill cautioned, however, that non-legislative approaches "contribute neither to decreased vote percentages when incumbents win elections nor to a greater probability of their defeat."[37]
In 2021, John Johnson, Research Fellow in the Lubar Center for Public Policy Research and Civic Education at Marquette University, reviewed the relationship between partisan gerrymandering and political geography in Wisconsin, a state where Republicans have controlled both chambers of the state legislature since 2010 while voting for the Democratic nominee in every presidential election but one since 1988. After analyzing state election results since 2000, Johnson wrote, "In 2000, 42% of Democrats and 36% of Republicans lived in a neighborhood that the other party won. Twenty years later, 43% of Democrats lived in a place Trump won, but just 28% of Republicans lived in a Biden-voting neighborhood. Today, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to live in both places where they are the overwhelming majority and places where they form a noncompetitive minority."[38]
In 2016, Ballotpedia analyzed the margins of victory in all 435 contests for the United States House of Representatives. Ballotpedia found that the average margin of victory was 36.6 percent. A total of 321 elections (73.8 percent of all House elections) were won by margins of victory of 20 percent or more. Sixteen elections (3.7 percent of all House elections) were won by margins of victory of less than 5 percent.
In Oklahoma, all five of the elections for the United States House of Representatives were won by margins of victory of 20 percent or greater. The smallest margin of victory occurred in District 5, where Steve Russell (R) won by 20.3 percent. The greatest margin of victory occurred in District 1, where Jim Bridenstine (R) ran unopposed and won by 100 percent. See the table below for full details.
In 2014, Ballotpedia conducted a study of competitive districts in 44 state legislative chambers between 2010, the last year in which district maps drawn after the 2000 census applied, and 2012, the first year in which district maps drawn after the 2010 census applied. Ballotpedia found that there were 61 fewer competitive general election contests in 2012 than in 2010. Of the 44 chambers studied, 25 experienced a net loss in the number of competitive elections. A total of 17 experienced a net increase. In total, 16.2 percent of the 3,842 legislative contests studied saw competitive general elections in 2010. In 2012, 14.6 percent of the contests studied saw competitive general elections. An election was considered competitive if it was won by a margin of victory of 5 percent or less. An election was considered mildly competitive if it was won by a margin of victory between 5 and 10 percent. For more information regarding this report, including methodology, see this article.
In Oklahoma, there were three competitive races for the Oklahoma House of Representatives in 2012, compared to eight in 2010. There were four mildly competitive House races in 2012, compared to four in 2010. This amounted to a net loss of five competitive elections.
The tables below summarize the current partisan composition of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and the Oklahoma State Senate.
Party | As of November 2021 | |
---|---|---|
Democratic Party | 19 | |
Republican Party | 82 | |
Vacancies | 0 | |
Total | 101 |
Party | As of November 2021 | |
---|---|---|
Democratic Party | 9 | |
Republican Party | 39 | |
Vacancies | 0 | |
Total | 48 |
Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 mandates that electoral district lines cannot be drawn in such a manner as to "improperly dilute minorities' voting power."
“ | No voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure shall be imposed or applied by any State or political subdivision to deny or abridge the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account of race or color.[7] | ” |
—Voting Rights Act of 1965[39] |
States and other political subdivisions may create majority-minority districts in order to comply with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. A majority-minority district is a district in which minority groups compose a majority of the district's total population. As of 2015, Oklahoma was home to zero congressional majority-minority districts.[2][3][4]
Proponents of majority-minority districts maintain that these districts are a necessary hindrance to the practice of cracking, which occurs when a constituency is divided between several districts in order to prevent it from achieving a majority in any one district. In addition, supporters argue that the drawing of majority-minority districts has resulted in an increased number of minority representatives in state legislatures and Congress.[2][3][4]
Critics, meanwhile, contend that the establishment of majority-minority districts can result in packing, which occurs when a constituency or voting group is placed within a single district, thereby minimizing its influence in other districts. Because minority groups tend to vote Democratic, critics argue that majority-minority districts ultimately present an unfair advantage to Republicans by consolidating Democratic votes into a smaller number of districts.[2][3][4]
The tables below provide demographic information for each of Oklahoma's congressional districts as of 2015. At that time, the population of the largest congressional district, Oklahoma's 5th Congressional District, totaled 809,997, and the population of the smallest, Oklahoma's 2nd Congressional District, totaled 750,930, which represented a difference of 7.87 percent.[40]
Demographics of Oklahoma's congressional districts (as percentages) | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
District | Hispanic or Latino of any race | White | Black or African American | American Indian and Alaska Native | Asian | Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander | Other | Multiple races |
District 1, Oklahoma | 10.87% | 65.02% | 8.66% | 5.11% | 2.60% | 0.03% | 0.23% | 7.49% |
District 2, Oklahoma | 5.12% | 64.39% | 3.47% | 16.00% | 0.50% | 0.20% | 0.06% | 10.25% |
District 3, Oklahoma | 9.75% | 74.20% | 3.73% | 5.64% | 1.37% | 0.05% | 0.03% | 5.22% |
District 4, Oklahoma | 8.43% | 71.18% | 6.36% | 4.44% | 2.30% | 0.08% | 0.18% | 7.03% |
District 5, Oklahoma | 16.07% | 57.56% | 13.28% | 4.18% | 3.08% | 0.07% | 0.15% | 5.60% |
Source: United States Census Bureau, "American Fact Finder: 2015 1-year estimates," accessed May 23, 2017 |
Demographics of Oklahoma's congressional districts | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
District | Hispanic or Latino of any race | White | Black or African American | American Indian and Alaska Native | Asian | Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander | Other | Multiple races | Total |
District 1, Oklahoma | 86,140 | 515,404 | 68,614 | 40,495 | 20,636 | 214 | 1,821 | 59,370 | 792,694 |
District 2, Oklahoma | 38,464 | 483,538 | 26,084 | 120,126 | 3,771 | 1,527 | 415 | 77,005 | 750,930 |
District 3, Oklahoma | 76,060 | 578,584 | 29,051 | 43,984 | 10,692 | 394 | 255 | 40,693 | 779,713 |
District 4, Oklahoma | 65,597 | 553,761 | 49,479 | 34,563 | 17,884 | 607 | 1,420 | 54,693 | 778,004 |
District 5, Oklahoma | 130,203 | 466,224 | 107,598 | 33,874 | 24,945 | 543 | 1,214 | 45,396 | 809,997 |
Source: United States Census Bureau, "American Fact Finder: 2015 1-year estimates," accessed May 23, 2017 |
Oklahoma was apportioned five seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. This represented neither a gain nor a loss of seats as compared to apportionment after the 2010 census.[41]
Oklahoma is drawing congressional district maps following the 2020 census. New congressional district maps have not yet been enacted.
New state Senate and state House district maps were signed into law by Governor Kevin Stitt (R) on May 13, 2021.[42] On Aug. 23, the House and Senate redistricting committee chairs announced the first round of enacted maps would have to be redrawn following the release of 2020 census data.[43]
Images of the enacted Senate and House maps are embedded below.
Following the 2010 United States Census, Oklahoma neither gained nor lost congressional seats. On May 4, 2011, the state legislature passed a congressional redistricting plan, which was signed into law by the governor on May 10, 2011.[32][44]
On May 16, 2011, the state legislature passed a state legislative redistricting plan, which was signed into law by the governor on May 20, 2011. The newly approved Senate district boundaries were challenged in state court, but all challenges were ultimately dismissed.[32]
The following is a list of recent redistricting bills that have been introduced in or passed by the Oklahoma state legislature. To learn more about each of these bills, click the bill title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.
Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may not be relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.
Ballotpedia has tracked the following ballot measure(s) relating to redistricting in Oklahoma.
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Redistricting Oklahoma. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
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