Redistricting 2022 and Beyond

The League has again partnered with organizations across the state that are also interested in fair congressional districts.

Legislative leadership declared before the 2026 legislative session that it would bring up congressional redistricting during the session — in the absence of new census data and to achieve a purely partisan goal.

That did not happen, but recent Supreme Court rulings and actions of other states make it clear that the danger of ill-advised partisan redistricting is not off the table.

Stay informed, watch this site and the LWVTSC Facebook page for updates.

Take Action

Contact . . .

your Kansas State Senator and Representative. Cultivate a relationship so that when it’s time, you can speak from background that’s firmly established.

Convey a clear message to those we elected to serve us: DO NOT DILLUTE OUR VOTE! Encourage the legislature to NOT redraw maps BETWEEN decennial census counts just in order to win political favor.

The information below provides context for those conversations.

Mid-Cycle Redistricting — What the Heck?

On October 16 the LWVK and KsFairMaps hosted a mid-cycle redistricting presentation by Dr. Michael Smith from Emporia State University.

A short refresher on gerrymandering.

In 2022 the LWVK produced a short video describing how gerrymandering is done and the impact it has on communities. The Kansas Legislature gerrymandered our congressional districts then and they want to do it again.

LWVK Redistricting Position

After the 2022 round of redistricting, the Kansas League (LWVK) updated it’s position on legislative and congressional redistricting. A committee of League members from across the state created the revised position which was adopted at the League’s convention on April 22, 2023.

A recording of the briefing on the position presented for League members during the spring of 2023 is posted below. LWVTSC members met in February to consider concurrence with the new state position. The members in attendance voted unanimously to concur with the position.

2022 Redistricting in Topeka

The City’s Council district boundary lines are redrawn every 10 years following the U.S. Census to rebalance the number of residents in each district. As required by the City’s Home Rule Charter, the Council appointed a Redistricting Commission which recommended a new district plan to the Council on September 1, 2022. The recommended districts were adopted by the Council on November 1, 2022, and will be used for the 2023 City Council elections.

The League presented testimony at the Commission’s single public hearing on August 18.
More information about the Redistricting Commission and its activities is available on the Topeka City website.

After observing the 2022 process, the LWVTSC adopted a city redistricting position that encourages the City Council to adopt a process that is less biased toward incumbents.

2022 City Council Districts

link to Shawnee County GIS application

2022 Redistricting in Kansas

The Kansas Legislature created new legislative and congressional districts during the 2022 legislative session. Those new districts withstood challenges in court and were used for the 2022 elections of Kansas representatives to the US House and the Kansas House. State senators, who were not up for election in 2022, will run for the first time in the new districts in 2024.