The legislature serves as the boundary authority in a few countries. In some countries, particularly many Commonwealth countries, special commissions have been created solely for the purpose of redistricting. In other countries, electoral commissions or other government agencies are charged with the task of redistricting.
In the United States, redistricting is mostly in the hands of the fifty state legislatures. A legislative committee usually produces a districting plan or reviews plans submitted by legislators. In France, the Ministry of the Interior drew the district boundary lines when single-member districts were restored in 1986. But most long-standing liberal democracies now use special redistricting commissions.
Redistricting commissions tend to be small in size, ranging from three to seven members. Canada has three-member commissions; Germany and New Zealand have seven-member commissions. Some commissions are composed wholly or in part of government officials, as in Australia and New Zealand. In other countries, the composition of redistricting commissions is more flexible. For example, Canadian law stipulates that the chair of the independent provincial redistribution commissions be a judge appointed by the chief justice of the province, but the law does not specify the two other appointments. In practice, the other commissioners are usually members of the academic community or government officials, such as the clerks of the provincial legislatures.
Members of the judiciary are well represented on redistricting commissions in many Commonwealth countries. They often chair the commissions, as in Canada. In New Zealand, the chair of the Representation Commission since 1956 has been either a sitting or retired judge, although this is not required by law. In the United Kingdom, senior judges serve as deputy chairs of the four boundary commissions in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. In Australia, the chairperson of the Australian Electoral Commission, who is a judge, chairs the augmented Electoral Commission.
Redistricting commissions often include public officials with backgrounds in election administration, geography or topography, and statistics. In Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, the commissions include electoral officers or registrars-general, as well as the director of ordnance survey (United Kingdom) and the surveyor-general (Australia and New Zealand). Statisticians have an important role on Australian commissions, because population projections, rather than actual census or voter registration counts, are used to draw electoral district boundaries. In Canada, academics knowledgeable about elections and/or geography may be asked to serve on electoral commissions.
Noticeably missing from redistricting commissions in most Commonwealth countries are legislators and representatives of political parties. The express purpose of this omission is to maintain the neutrality of the commissions. New Zealand is one exception to this rule. Two political appointees, one representative for the governing party and one for opposition parties, serve on the seven-member Representation Commission.
Descriptions of several commissions, including their composition and degree of independence, can be found in the country examples for Australia (Federal Redistribution in Australia), Canada (Representation in the Canadian Parliament), Germany (Redistricting in Germany), New Zealand (Electoral Redistribution in New Zealand), and the United Kingdom (The United Kingdom Redistribution Process).
