HomeRedistricting

Redistricting 101

Redistricting is the process used by government bodies every 10 years to redraw the boundaries of electoral districts. Gerrymandering is partisan redistricting. Both Democrats and Republicans engage in gerrymandering; generally, the party in power draws the electoral maps. According to a recent study, Indiana’s General Assembly and Legislative Maps are now more biased toward one party than 95% of maps enacted in other states, over the past 50 years.

So...What's the Problem?

Gerrymandering undermines our democracy by allowing representatives to choose their voters rather than voters choosing their representatives:

It reduces competition.
It discourages voting.
It splinters specific communities, such as cities and towns, school districts, neighborhoods, and minority communities.

LWV-BMC has developed a presentation on redistricting and fair maps that can be viewed online or presented to groups. See the information below. This page also provides redistricting news and articles, a calendar of events, resources, and suggests action steps. Get involved!

View Video Online

Click here to access the video (34 minutes). At the point in the video where the short film is introduced (Slide 13), you can stop the video and click here to watch the 7-minute film “The Man Who Rigged America’s Election Maps.” Then continue the video. See the resources and action items below.

View the Presentation (at your leisure!)

If you wish to take your time with the information in the video, go through the presentation guide, which provides both the slides and the script.

Schedule a Presentation

If your group or organization would like a showing of the presentation video and short film, followed by a live Q&A session with some of the presenters, please contact redistrict@lwv-bmc.org to set this up.

Conduct a Presentation

The League is happy to provide the means for groups to conduct their own presentations. You can present the video as described above or use the PowerPoint file and presentation guide.

Have questions? Ask for our team at redistrict@lwv-bmc.org.

Redistricting Resources

Organization Websites

ALL IN for Democracy

Common Cause Indiana

League of Women Voters of Bloomington-Monroe County

League of Women Voters of Indiana

Information Websites

Ballotpedia

Brennan Center for Justice

Indiana DistrictR Mapping Tool

2021 Gerrymandering Threat Index

1992-2000 Indiana Redistricting Plan

Redistricting Videos

How Maps Help Politician Stay in Power (CNBC, 13 min)

Is Geometry Silencing Your Vote? (Above the Noise, 5 min)

The Man Who Rigged America's Electoral Maps (Vox, 7 min)

What Is Gerrymandering? (Simple Civics, 3.5 min)

Gerrymandering to the Supreme Court (ACLU, 9 min)

What Is Redistricting? (LWVUS, 1 min)

Working for Fair Voting Maps in Indiana (see Redistricting Reform 101 above)

Redistricting Studies, Reports, and Articles

An Evaluation of the Partisan Bias in Indiana’s 2011 Congressional and State Legislative Districting

Indiana Citizens Redistricting Commission Report

Princeton Gerrymandering Project

REDMAP Documents

Redrawing the Lines: The Impact of Redistricting on African-American Political Power

Lawmakers to Public: "Talk to the Hand"

All About Drawing Maps

Learn Map Drawing vis Districtr

Maps Drawn By Monroe County Residents

Action You Can Take Today!

The All IN for Democracy coalition continues to work with legislators to attain a fair redistricting process, free from partisan bias. In 2023, you can help by supporting the following bills:

Creating a Citizens Redistricting Commission: HB1131, sponsored by Rep. Carey Hamilton (D-Indianapolis) would create a citizens redistricting commission for congressional and state legislative redistricting. This bill was first introduced in the Senate in 2018 and was written with substantial input from Common Cause Indiana and the All IN for Democracy coalition.
Eliminating Straight Ticket Voting: HB1183, sponsored by Rep. Rita Fleming (D-Jeffersonville) would eliminate straight ticket voting in Indiana. Removing straight ticket voting will help prevent drop-off in nonpartisan races and help encourage voters to take the time to research their candidates. Our state is one of just six states that allows the practice of straight ticket voting – it’s time for Indiana to join the majority of states and get rid of the straight ticket option.

As Chairman of the House Elections and Apportionment Committee, Rep. Tim Wesco decides which bills his committee will consider. It’s important that he hears from Hoosiers who want a fair redistricting process and who want candidates elected based on more than which party they align with. You can help get these bills a hearing by emailing Rep. Wesco to let him know that he should make these two bills a priority and get them on the committee schedule as soon as possible.

Suggest that the public deserves full disclosure in order to trust the process. Complacency is not an option; our legislators need to know we are watching the redistricting process and will be following its progress. Click here to find contact information for your legislators.

At the national level, please support:

The Freedom to Vote/John R Lewis Act. This one act would eliminate gerrymandering, exclude dark money from our elections, stop the revolving door for lobbyists, and restore the most important parts of the Civil Rights Act that make it hard for states to engage in vote suppression tactics.

Send your legislators the Indiana Citizens Redistricting Commission report.

This report summarizes what Hoosiers have to say about redistricting. Click here to view and download.

Join the redistricting movement.

Common Cause Indiana https://www.commoncause.org/indiana/

ALL IN for Democracy https://www.allinfordemocracy.org/

Subscribe to the LWV-BMC newsletter and action alerts.

LWV of Bloomington-Monroe County https://lwv-bmc.org/subscriber (If you are a member, you can go to your profile and select Action Alerts under Interests.)

Present “Working for Fair Voting Maps in Indiana” to your group or organization.

See "Redistricting Reform 101" above for more information.