Redistricting in Colorado: A Bipartisan Path Forward with GIS

The Roots of Redistricting

Did you know the United States census conducted every ten years is mandated by the U.S. Constitution in Article 1, Section 2? The reason the behind the framers’ decision was to ensure that all people were truly represented politically, not just those who wielded power through wealth or land ownership.

With each census comes the very politically-charged process of redistricting. Electoral boundaries are redrawn to reflect the intent of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was created in order to ensure the 15th Amendment was actually being enforced by states with a history of discriminatory and exclusionary voting laws and practices. The newly drawn electoral boundaries are supposed to reflect the idea of “one person, one vote.” According to the Ace Electoral College Network, a global authority on electoral information and election integrity:

“The most widely accepted rule for redistricting is that districts should be relatively equal in population. This is because representation by population is a central tenet of democracy and, in countries that employ single-member districts, this rule translates into the principle of equal populations across districts. Districts that are equal in population are necessary if voters are to have an equally weighted voice in the election of representatives. . . . . The United States is unique in its adherence to the doctrine of equal population. No other country requires deviations as minimal as the "one person, one vote" standard that has been imposed by U.S. courts since the early 1960s.”

Gerrymandering and the Challenges of “One Person, One Vote”

Redistricting’s nemesis is gerrymandering. This strange-sounding word was coined in 1812 when the governor of Massachusetts, Eldridge Gerry altered the voting districts in his state to favor his party. One district was redrawn into a salamander shape, leading to the joke that the strange shape was a “gerrymander.” Gerrymandering can occur through “packing” and “cracking.” Packing is when same-party voters are crammed into a district to ensure their representation is limited to a single district, and cracking is when same-party voters are spread across districts to dilute their representation in those districts.

Making sure the “one person, one vote” standard is fairly enforced is actually a pretty complicated task, and states vary in their redistricting rules. Some states require districts to be reasonably compact—no salamanders allowed! Trying to achieve compactness can result in unintentional gerrymandering, as demonstrated by this 2013 research article that simulated redistricting plans in Florida, demonstrating how human geography can create complications for fair redistricting. Unintentional gerrymandering can also occur trying to preserve natural boundaries. A redistricting simulator for Colorado shows the challenges of redrawing lines and the impacts that occur.

Colorado’s Recent Redistricting Reforms and the Role of GIS

In 2018, Colorado voters overwhelmingly approved a new path for redistricting with the goal of making the process bipartisan, passing Amendments Y and Z. Now two 12-member commissions, consisting of four registered Democrats, four Republicans, and four unaffiliated voters, oversee the redrawing of district boundaries. Going forward, nonpartisan legislative staff will draw the initial maps, and then the commissions will vote on the maps after three public hearings in each congressional district. Extensive efforts are being made to make the process as transparent as possible. In fact, Colorado received a positive mention in the recent Supreme Court decision for Rucho v. Common Cause for these recent redistricting reforms. 

The State of Colorado is adopting Esri’s redistricting software for commission use. Esri’s software includes “local basemaps, demographics, streets, and imagery to provide a visual context to the redistricting process.”  Argis Solutions is partnering with Integrated Land Services and other Colorado GIS professionals to provide GIS training and support for counties and municipalities struggling with including redistricting in their GIS system of record.

The commissions’ task is a complicated one, and certainly GIS software can help make the complex and layered information involved in redistricting easier to visualize and understand. “Communities of interest,” as defined by the Colorado Constitution, and cities and counties will need to stay intact as much as possible. Colorado also is a state that requires compactness. Brian Eason, writing for the Colorado Sun, notes, “Redistricting is as much art as science, and fulfilling one goal may require trade-offs from another one.” GIS software, like Esri Redistricting, can help the commissions and Colorado citizens understand those trade-offs more clearly, providing a more even-handed governance for all.