State Legislative Update: Independent Citizen-Redistricting Commissions
In June 2020, The Academy’s Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship issued the Our Common Purpose report to reinvent the American Democracy for the 21st century. The Commission reached a consensus on a bi-partisan basis on six strategies and 31 recommendations, including strategy 1, recommendation 4 to achieve equality of voice and representation by supporting enactment of state legislation to establish and maintain independent citizen-redistricting commissions in all 50 states.
Brief History
In response to the rise of partisan gerrymandering, several states have recently chosen to turn over the job of redistricting to independent commissions. Arizona was one of the first states to do so. The move met resistance in the courts, but in 2015, in Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5–4 that independent redistricting commissions are constitutional.
To date, 7 states – Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Montana, and Washington State – have independent citizen commissions that are responsible for drawing boundaries of electoral districts in a way that does not give any one political party an unfair advantage with commissioners having the final say to approve districts. To be more specific concerning some of these states:
The Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission was created by voters in 2000 to handle the redistricting of congressional and state legislative districts.
The California Citizens Redistricting Commission was established by voters in 2008 to draw district lines for the State Assembly, State Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives.
Michigan voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 to create the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission.
Colorado Independent Redistricting Commissions were established by voters in 2018 to oversee the redistricting of both congressional and state legislative districts.
It is important to note that some counties within these states have worked to establish their own independent redistricting processes. For example, California Senate Bill 977 was enacted in September 2024 to establish an independent citizen redistricting commission for San Luis Obispo County. Prior to 2024, the California governor vetoed legislation in 2023 that would have required such commissions for all counties and cities with populations over 300,000 because of budget concerns.
More Recent Developments
In Wisconsin, the General Assembly passed a redistricting reform plan in 2023 that would transfer map-drawing authority to nonpartisan staff, but the Governor vetoed the bill.
In Utah, the State Supreme Court ruled in July 2024 that the state legislature cannot amend voter-approved redistricting reforms without showing a compelling government interest.
During the November 2024 elections, Ohio voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment (Issue 1) that would have established a citizen-led redistricting commission to replace an existing system that repeatedly produced unconstitutional maps. The ballot question would have replaced the Ohio Redistricting Commission, made up of the governor, auditor, secretary of state and the four legislative leaders, with an independent body made up of citizens diversified by party affiliation and geography. Part of the reason for the defeat was due to confusing language between the actual ballot question, which required the new Commission to gerrymander district boundaries, and the constitutional amendment language, which indicated the opposite. Citizens Not Politicians, a bi-partisan coalition, proposed the constitutional amendment to address years of drawing legislative and congressional maps that were found unconstitutional to favor the political party in control of legislature and governorship.
In 2025, there is state legislative activity, including in Texas (HB 5316) and in West Virginia (HB 2089), to considering legislation to establish independent commissions.
The Academy will continue to monitor state legislative and regulatory activities concerning this important issue.