In many countries, especially those that employ multimember districts, the boundaries of electoral districts follow the boundaries of existing administrative divisions--usually states or provinces. Often these administrative divisions have some historical significance. Some administrative divisions, however, may be of recent vintage and of little relevance to citizens.
There are certain advantages to aligning electoral districts with administrative divisions, in that the districts will then
- correspond to the entities that administer local governmental functions;
- correspond to social, political, and other non-governmental organisations arranged by administrative areas;
- be more meaningful to constituents if the districts correspond to well-recognised administrative divisions;
- reflect geographic communities of interest when the administrative divisions themselves reflect distinct communities of interest.
Correspondence with Governmental Functions
Administrative divisions may be assigned important governmental functions. For example, local government entities may have responsibilities for levying taxes or administering justice, education or public health. Constituents of local government entities can benefit from being able to identify and relate to the elected representatives from districts that correspond to these administrative divisions, especially if constituents need help in dealing with these governmental agencies.
In addition, a country's election machinery may be organised around administrative divisions. If so, it may be easier to conduct elections if electoral district boundaries correspond to administrative boundaries.
Correspondence with Non-Governmental Organisations
Governmental agencies are not the only organisations that operate within specific administrative divisions. Many social, cultural, and political organisations are also arranged according to administrative areas. Such organisations may include political parties, trade unions, professional associations and many other occupational, social, and cultural organisations. Members of these organisations may benefit by being able to identify and relate to elected representatives from the same administrative division. Elected representatives, too, may find it easier to work with and communicate with members of these non-governmental organisations.
Recognition of Electoral Districts
Long-standing state or provincial boundaries engender a corporate identity that voters can relate to more easily than artificially created electoral districts. Voters may be able to distinguish between their district and other districts and identify their elected representative more easily if electoral districts are defined by administrative boundaries.
Reflection of Communities of Interest
Electoral districts that are composed of long-standing state or provincial territories may reflect geographically concentrated communities of interest based on a common heritage or on shared racial, ethnic, religious or language characteristics. Some of the more modern administrative entities that form the basis of electoral districts, however, may have little in the way of common roots. Consequently, these districts do not bring together constituents with common interests.
Drawbacks to Using Administrative Divisions
Administrative divisions do not have the same level of importance throughout the world. Although they reflect important regional differences in some countries, administrative divisions in other countries have been created very recently. In these countries, the boundaries are artificial and of little significance to citizens. In fact, the boundaries may divide natural communities of interest such as long-standing racial, ethnic, religious, or spoken language communities. Using administrative entities to form electoral districts in this instance may actually conflict with the creation of electoral districts that reflect strong communities of interest.
Single-Member Districts and Administrative Divisions
Aligning electoral districts with administrative boundaries is a very common practice in countries with multimember electoral districts. However, correspondence with administrative divisions is more problematic in countries that employ single-member districts exclusively. This is because there is often a conflict between drawing single-member districts that follow existing administrative lines and drawing single-member districts that are relatively equal in population.
This is not to suggest that single-member districts can never correspond to administrative divisions within a country. Many countries that use single-member districts do emphasise the need to respect administrative boundaries. But the weight given to this consideration varies, depending on the importance placed on equality of population and other redistricting criteria that may conflict with respect for administrative divisions. For example, in the United Kingdom, large numerical deviations in population were tolerated in order to accommodate local administrative areas. This changed with the passage of the Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Act 2011 which sets a variance of plus or minus five percent of the United Kingdom electoral quota. In the United States, congressional district boundaries never cross state lines; the strict enforcement of equality of numbers, however, is far more important than respect for local administrative boundaries.
