Redistricting

For detailed information on redistricting you can view the concepts page here.

Redistricting is the process by which states redraw legislative boundaries. It was added to the game in the 0.24 Beta on January 27, 2023, and subsequently added to the game in 0.249.

Prompt
Alabama Congressional Redistricting

Redistricting Power: State House - Democrat Majority, State Senate - Democrat Majority, Governor - Democrat (Veto Power)

Redistricting Info:

Each colored block represents a set of voters for each political party. Darker blocks represent mandatory voters - these voters must remain in the district (to reflect geographical limitations of redistricting). To change the number of mandatory voters, you can go to the Advanced Options and adjust the "Redistricting Range (Player)" value. This can be found in the Nation tab of the Advanced Options.

If the "Continue" button is blue, it means that the districts have enough support to pass; if the button is red, the districts do not have enough support and an independent commission will be used to draw new districts.

Redistricting Laws for this state: Legislative Support Margin - 50%

(Creating gerrymandered/unfair districts in states with redistricting laws could trigger a legal challenge against the districts.)

Function
A state with a governor and one branch of the legislature will trigger the prompt to the player if the player (or protege) is governor, state senate majority leader, or speaker of the state house. It will trigger on Week 47 of years ending in 1 (2021, 1941, 1871 etc) before the midterm elections in the succeeding year. State legislature composites for states outside the players will change seat aggregates depending on the majority party after the cycle, but not within the player's home state.

In order to make the feature less of a headache for larger state legislatures, and also quality of life a feature to "automate" the process by keeping previous districts, as well as setting an initial "gerrymander" amount for the provided districts.

Counties
County data was added to the game with this update, and counties do not change between districts except when a state gains or loses a district. In the latter case, the state will merge the district that was eliminated with the district that immediately preceded it. In the former case, the state will add the new seat(s) to their largest counties by population.

Laws and Commissions
All laws that govern redistricting are settings in the advanced options, but will be made into laws at a later date.

All states except Iowa that do not have an independent commission, except Connecticut, North Carolina, and North Dakota have a governor veto over the redistricting maps that are proposed. Governor vetoes result in a redistricting commission drawing boundaries.

Iowa's redistricting process involves both a political commission, and allows the governor to veto.

In the 31 states and the District of Columbia, there are no laws limiting the redistricting changes that may be done. In the remaining states there are limits of up to three laws that can apply to limit gerrymandering.

Not shown is that Arizona's independent commission is set to create Competitive Districts that reduce safe and lean seats.

Except in Maine, a simple majority (50%) is required to pass redistricting laws. In Maine, changes need a supermajority (66%) to pass.