Louisiana legislators will begin formal deliberations on the redistricting process Tuesday evening, when the first session kicks off.

While the redistricting process has been going on for months, with public hearings that began in October, the three-week session beginning this week will be when legislators vote on what maps will be sent to the governor’s desk for approval or veto. 

Redistricting happens once every 10 years, meaning that this is most of the legislature’s first time partaking in the process. It is also Gov. John Bel Edwards’ first time going through it as an executive. 

For college students who were not paying attention in civics class during high school or simply need a refresher on the redistricting process and why it matters, this guide may answer some questions.

What is redistricting?

Every 10 years, after U.S. Census results are delivered, state legislatures are tasked with redrawing district lines, which determine how areas of the state are represented politically on each level, from local to federal. Louisiana’s maps for U.S. House of Representatives, state legislature and other statewide and local districts will be redrawn.

The 2020 census shows that Louisiana has become less rural and more diverse in the last 10 years, which will affect how different parts of the state are represented.

The data also show significant population loss in northern Louisiana, while more urban parts of the state around Lafayette, Baton Rouge and New Orleans grew significantly. 

These population shifts will affect how lawmakers redraw the maps. 

What criteria is considered during redistricting?

Per the U.S. Constitution, each district needs to contain roughly the same number of people, with a small margin of error. The federal Voting Rights Act also requires that minority voters have an equal opportunity to elect their representatives.

There are other values that lawmakers may consider as well, like compactness, or keeping districtings in small, contiguous areas.

Who is involved in the process?

Although a small number of states use independent commissions to redraw their state’s district lines, Louisiana relies on the legislature. Lawmakers take input from the public and other interest groups like the NAACP, ACLU and Louisiana Progress. 

Within the legislature, the process is handled primarily by the Joint Governmental Affairs Committee, made up of both the House and Governmental Affairs Committee, which is chaired by Rep. John Stefanski, a Crawley Republican, and the Senate and Governmental Affairs committee, which is chaired by Sen. Sharon Hewitt, a Slidell Republican.

After the maps are drawn, they go to the governor, who can either sign the maps into law or veto them, at which point the legislature could either draw new maps or override the veto.

After maps are approved by the governor, there is likely to be a legal fight. That fight could take place in state or federal courts. The process is likely to include activists, lawyers from the NAACP and/or the ACLU, as well as any number of judges. It could also end up in the U.S. Supreme Court.

What is the Voting Rights Act?

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed to protect against race discrimination in voting, a problem that has plagued many U.S. jurisdictions since the passage of the 15th amendment of the Constitution in 1870.

The VRA includes numerous provisions, one of which is outlined in Section 4. This section requires jurisdictions with a history of voter suppression (including Louisiana) to submit proposed changes to the U.S. Justice Department for approval before implementation.

This section was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013, meaning that this is the very first redistricting cycle since the passage of the VRA that Louisiana does not have to seek federal approval. 

What is reapportionment?

Reapportionment is the redistribution of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives based on changes in population. 

In 2011, Louisiana lost a congressional seat because of population loss in the previous 10 years. This time, Louisiana will keep the same number of seats.

The state’s population grew nearly 3%, the 10th slowest rate in the U.S. Out of 64 parishes, only 19 saw their population increase, with much of the growth focused in the southern half of the state. 

A few other states will either gain or lose a seat. Notably, Texas is gaining two seats, and Montana will have a second congressional district for the first time since 1993.

What is gerrymandering?

Gerrymandering is a way of manipulating district lines to favor a certain group, most commonly a political party or race. Gerrymandering can happen in a variety of different ways, including packing and cracking. 

Packing forces a large number of voters from one group into a single or small number of districts to lessen their power in other districts. Cracking dilutes the power of those voters into many districts.

Will the governor approve the maps?

That is the question politicos and journalists have been talking about for months. While Edwards has not explicitly stated what maps he would veto, he has offered a few comments on the general idea.

“I will veto bills that I believe suffer from defects in terms of basic fairness,” Edwards said during his monthly call-in radio show in November.

In December, Edwards expanded on what “fairness” meant to him. 

“Fairness, if it can be done, would be to have two out of the six congressional districts be minority districts,” he said.