The Congress in the U.S. is bicameral consisting of the House of Representatives and of the Senate. The Senate is made up of 100 members each state having two people elected to represent the interests of their state. The House of Representatives is made up of 435 members and each one of them represents a district in the US, hence the name The House of Representatives. While the members of the House of Representatives are elected for two years, the senators serve for six years. These members are elected through direct votes granted by the population who lives in those districts. In the following lines we will refer to Pennsylvania election districts primarily.
Each state consists of several districts in which elections are organized and held to choose the representatives meant to stand up for the people’s interests. For example, the Pennsylvania election districts used to be 19 before the 2010 census when the number dropped to 18. These districts are redesigned every ten years after the national census based on the results of which seats in the House of Representatives are apportioned. Redesigning the districts or redistricting is usually done by April so that elections can later be organized by administrators whose role is to make elections run smoothly and correctly. If redistricting occurs, as it happened with the Pennsylvania election districts, it means that there were some important population changes which had to be considered so that the nation could be well represented in Congress.
In most states in the U.S., the legislative body is charged with drawing the district boundaries and the new boundaries must be given the green light by the state governor. After the 2010 census, the Pennsylvania election districts were redrawn so that 18 would be the new number, and the new plan was approved by the governor. However, not all the states follow this procedure. In some states there are specially appointed commissions in charge of redrawing boundaries of districts while in others the state is a district on its own since the population is not so numerous.
Whichever the number of districts per state, it is very important that election districts are drawn and redrawn so that the number of people in each district is pretty much the same. In addition to that, Pennsylvania election districts, like any others in the U.S., must be drawn so that there will be no political manipulation of elections or partisan support. Sometimes it is very difficult to ensure that districts are fairly redrawn in terms of boundaries and regions especially if the legislative body dealing with redistricting belongs to a certain party.
Each state consists of several districts in which elections are organized and held to choose the representatives meant to stand up for the people’s interests. For example, the Pennsylvania election districts used to be 19 before the 2010 census when the number dropped to 18. These districts are redesigned every ten years after the national census based on the results of which seats in the House of Representatives are apportioned. Redesigning the districts or redistricting is usually done by April so that elections can later be organized by administrators whose role is to make elections run smoothly and correctly. If redistricting occurs, as it happened with the Pennsylvania election districts, it means that there were some important population changes which had to be considered so that the nation could be well represented in Congress.
In most states in the U.S., the legislative body is charged with drawing the district boundaries and the new boundaries must be given the green light by the state governor. After the 2010 census, the Pennsylvania election districts were redrawn so that 18 would be the new number, and the new plan was approved by the governor. However, not all the states follow this procedure. In some states there are specially appointed commissions in charge of redrawing boundaries of districts while in others the state is a district on its own since the population is not so numerous.
Whichever the number of districts per state, it is very important that election districts are drawn and redrawn so that the number of people in each district is pretty much the same. In addition to that, Pennsylvania election districts, like any others in the U.S., must be drawn so that there will be no political manipulation of elections or partisan support. Sometimes it is very difficult to ensure that districts are fairly redrawn in terms of boundaries and regions especially if the legislative body dealing with redistricting belongs to a certain party.
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