Districting refers to the drawing up of electoral district lines. An electoral district is an
administrative unit for counting votes. However, the size and boundaries of an electoral district
can have a profound impact on election integrity. In order to respect the one person one vote
principle, representation from each district needs to be relatively equal in terms of the ratio of seats
to the number of voters. In reality, however, when districting is done by a partisan group, it can
become a political tool to marginalise the representation of certain groups or to ensure sure wins
for particular politicians or parties.
Ensuring the equality of representation between districts is important integrity task. Districting should be done on a frequent enough basis so it takes into account population
migration, but at the same time, it should not be done so frequently that it creates unrealistic administrative burdens. Districting also requires that choices be made by the districting authority, such as what
level of importance will be given to populations living in remote areas. It is in these choices, that
integrity problems can arise.
Partisan influences
Fair districting or redistricting (redrawing of district lines after a population census) respects the equal population principle. This is to ensure that all citizens, regardless of their
location, receive equal representation. The number of seats assigned to each
district is an important factor in ensuring this equal representation.
Districting can be done by independent bodies or electoral managers, but in many cases is done by
partisan majorities in the legislature. As such, politicians can draw up boundaries for partisan
benefit, whereby boundary lines are drawn in such a way that opposition support is concentrated in
relatively few districts, leaving the ruling party with majorities in the remaining districts. This results in the ruling party and its candidates receiving a disproportionately large share of seats in the
elections.
Districting can also be manipulated to ensure a 'safe' district for a political party. By grouping a majority
of party supporters within one electoral boundary, that party's candidate is usually assured of an easy win. When these boundary lines are drawn up to obtain partisan or factional advantage, it is called
gerrymandering. Gerrymandering hurts electoral integrity because it violates the one person one
vote principle and can create arbitrary district boundaries that, in turn, can create logistical and other
operational problems for electoral managers.
The term 'gerrymandering' was coined from U.S. districting problems, but gerrymandering is an
integrity issue that affects other systems as well. For example, according to Joel Barkan, in Kenya the purpose of districting 'has
always been to over-represent the members of Kenya's smallest and most spatially dispersed
ethnic groups by giving them more constituencies than the larger and more concentrated groups
receive.'
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For more on this see Partisan Considerations in Choosing a Boundary Authority.
Timing of redistricting
Populations move over time. Rural residents move to urban areas, and the demographics of a
country change. Electoral districts need to keep up to date with these changes or certain areas may end up under-represented, while other areas end up over-represented. How these boundaries are updated, and how often it is done, are election integrity factors.
The general consensus is that a logical time to redistrict is after a regular census. Most countries have a national census every 5 to 10 years. After a census, a reapportionment of the seats in the legislative branch (if it is based on population rather than a specific geographic region) can be done based on the results of the census. In these cases, regions
with population increases receive additional seats, while regions with a decrease in
population lose seats. Increases or decreases might also require the district lines to be
redrawn.
The timing of redistricting can also impact the outcome of an election. For governments or politicians interested in gerrymandering, the ideal time to redistrict is before
an election. Lines can then be drawn to maximize strengths and marginalise areas where there is
opposition. By doing this right before an election, there is also not enough time to challenge
redistricting problems through the court system before the elections are held.
Mechanisms to address districting integrity issues
Some of the mechanisms used to ensure integrity in the districting process are:
1. Use of a nonpartisan body, or a technical division of the electoral management body, to draw
up the electoral district lines.
Taking the beneficiaries of districting out of redistricting can help reduce the personal and partisan
bias of the process. This independent approach has been used in New Zealand, for instance, which reviews its
electoral boundaries every five years after its population census. The boundary changes are done
by an independent statutory body, the Representation Commission, that includes the Government
Statistician, Surveyor-General and the Chief Electoral Officer. All changes are designed to ensure
equal representation in Parliament based on the resident population (rather than the actual number
of voters). 127
2. Use of the courts to challenge suspect districts.
Using the court system as a check on arbitrary or unfair districting can be effective. In the U.S., for example, where gerrymandering has been a significant problem, a court challenge resulted in
the 1964 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that boundaries should be drawn on a basis of substantial
equality of population. Although gerrymandering is still an issue, the Supreme Court ruling has
reduced the size of the problem.
3. Use of government administrative districts for electoral districts.
Using existing government administrative districts is another way to avoid drawing district lines for partisan benefit. For example, Denmark has found that, as a result of doing this, 'delimitation issues are virtually absent from the Danish
political debate... Every five years, seats are redistributed among the districts based on the
procedures in the Constitution and Election Act. The delimitation of the local polling districts is
the responsibility of the municipalities. These districts have no effect at all on the outcome of the
election, and changes in delimitation are carried out primarily for reasons of convenience.'
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