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TG Research Service
Congressional Redistricting 2021:
Legal Framework
September 10, 2021
In August 2021, the Census Bureau released the 2020 redistricting data, and based on that data, states
have begun the process of congressional redistricting. Redistricting is the drawing of district boundaries
within each state from which voters elect their representatives to the U.S. House of Representatives. In
addition to complying with applicable state laws, congressional redistricting must comport with the U.S.
Constitution and federal law, as interpreted by the Supreme Court. Since the 1960s, the Court has issued a
series of rulings that have significantly shaped how congressional districts are drawn. Integrating Court
precedent, this Legal Sidebar provides an overview of the legal framework that informs congressional
redistricting, focusing on the population equality standard; requirements under the Voting Rights Act
(VRA); standards of equal protection; and claims of unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering. The
Sidebar concludes by discussing various considerations for Congress.
Population Equality Standard: One Person, One Vote
The Supreme Court has interpreted the Constitution to require that each congressional district within a
state contain an approximately equal number of persons. In a 1964 ruling, Wesberry v. Sanders, the
Supreme Court interpreted Article I, section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which provides that
Representatives be chosen by the People of the several States so that as nearly as is practicable[,] one
man's vote in a congressional election is to be worth as much as another's. This requirement is
sometimes called the equality standard or the principle of one person, one vote.
In several cases since 1964, the Supreme Court has described the extent to which deviations from precise
or ideal population equality among congressional districts are permissible. Precise or ideal equality is the
average population that each district would contain if a state population were evenly distributed across all
districts. The total population deviation or maximum population deviation refers to the percentage
difference from the ideal population between the most and least populated districts in a state. Notably, the
Court has determined that congressional districts are permitted less deviation from precise equality than
state legislative districts. For example, in the 1969 case, Kirkpatrick v. Preisler, the Court invalidated a
congressional redistricting plan with a 5.97% maximum population deviation, where the most populous
district was 3.13 percent above the mathematical ideal, and the least populous was 2.84 percent below.
The Court characterized the variance as too great to comport with the as nearly as practicable standard
Congressional Research Service
https://crsreports.congress.gov
LSB10639
CRS Legal Sidebar
Prepared for Members and
Committees of Congress](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/goveemj0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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