Are you ready to  . . .

The Legislature’s Redistricting committees conducted a second Listening Tour in November to gather input prior to the start of the 2022 Session.  Read about it here. 

Testimony from all of the Listening Tour sessions — August and November can be accessed on either the House or the Senate Redistricting Committee pages on the Legislature’s website.  On the committee page, go to “Agendas and Minutes”, choose the date for the session you’re interested in, and from there you can link to each piece of written testimony submitted. 

The Fair Votes Fair Maps Committee of the Topeka-Shawnee County League considered this community and how it is divided into State House and Senate districts.  The Board adopted the Committee’s recommendations for principles to guide redistricting in the Shawnee County area.  Key principles include:

• Districts that are equal in population, comply with the Voting Rights Act, and are compact and contiguous.

• Confining districts in Topeka to the area within the city limits to the extent possible thus recognizing the common interests of Topeka residents.

• Where equality of population among districts requires city districts to include areas outside the city limits, acknowledge common interests of residents by including outlying areas of similar character as the city portion of the district.

• Keeping surrounding counties whole within the limitations of equal population requirements and not splitting cities other than Topeka.

• Creating districts that recognize common interests among residents and that are easily identifiable by voters using major streets, roads, highways, and natural features as district boundaries to the extent possible given the configuration of precincts.

Read the full report of the Fair Votes Fair Maps Committee here.

Resources

What are your communities?  How do you describe them to decision makers?  Then what?

Want to contribute to new legislative and congressional districts but not sure how to go about it? This is the video for you! Redistricting in Kansas is underway and the League of Women Voters can help you prepare the specific information that legislators have requested.  Submit your testimony and community’s story to the redistricting committees by the end of 2021. 

The Legislature will adopt new districts during the 2022 Legislative Session. 

Maps and Tables Showing Population Change by County and District

Kansas Legislative Briefing Book 2021, Kansas Legislative Research

Proposed guidelines for 2022 redistricting.

Link to current district maps

2021 Redistricting Advisory Group (Legislative Committee)

House Committee on Redistricting

Senate Committee on Redistricting

Historical Resources

2012 Essex v Kobach opinion

2012 Technical Committee Rules

2012 Guidelines and Criteria for Legislative and Congressional Districts

Other Video Resources

We kicked off the 2022 round of redistricting in Kansas by presenting “Redistricting 101.”  This slide presentation, made to the League of Women Voters Topeka-Shawnee County members and community partners in April 2021, reviews the basics of congressional and legislative redistricting in Kansas. Learn about redistricting, why fair maps are the basis for fair votes, and how you can get involved in the process.

Not sure how gerrymandering works? Two words: packing and cracking. Both are used to gerrymander districts to favor one group over another. We see how gerrymanding works in this clever demonstration, Pennies vs. Dimes. This is an excerpt from the documentary Line in the Street by Robert Millman. Posted here with permission.

Additional Resources

(Documents will download or open in a new tab.)

Apportionment 101 and Why It’s Important, U.S. Census Bureau

2020 Census Redistricting Data Release, U.S. Census Bureau

Census Law and Terminology Related to Redistricting

Coalition Hub for Advancing Redistricting through Grassroots Engagement (CHARGE Hub)

Princeton Gerrymandering Project

National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL)

NAACP Legal Defense Fund Redistricting Guide

League of Women Voters Kansas People Powered Fair Maps

Resources in Multiple Languages

All About Redistricting, 

     Community Engagement: Understanding the Redistricting Process