What Are Fair Districts?

Fair districts refer to electoral district boundaries that are drawn in a way that ensures equal and just representation for all citizens. This means that the boundaries are created without favoring any political party, racial group, or incumbent candidate.

Why Fair Districts Matter

  1. Representative Democracy: Fair districts help ensure that every vote has equal weight, maintaining the principle of "one person, one vote."

  2. Preventing Gerrymandering: Gerrymandering is the manipulation of district boundaries to benefit a particular party or group. Fair districts aim to eliminate this practice.

  3. Public Trust: When people believe elections are fair, they are more likely to trust and participate in the democratic process.

  4. Community Integrity: Fair maps keep communities together rather than splitting them for political gain, allowing for better representation of local interests.

Characteristics of Fair Districts

  • Population Equality: Each district has roughly the same number of residents.

  • Geographic Compactness: Districts should be reasonably shaped and not overly stretched or irregular.

  • Respect for Natural and Community Boundaries: Districts should follow city or county lines when possible and keep communities with shared interests together.

  • Non-Partisan Process: Ideally, an independent commission—not politicians—should draw the district lines.

✅ KEYS TO A FAIR MAP

  • Non‑partisan / Citizen Commissions
  • States like CO, CA, MI, VA are moving away from legislative control to neutral bodies.

Objective Criteria & Public Process

  • Requirements: equal population, contiguity, respect for communities, compactness, and no favoritism toward parties/incumbents.
  • Transparency and public input (hearings, map submissions).

QUANTITATIVE METRICS

  • Tools like efficiency gap, Princeton’s PlanScore, and others help evaluate maps objectively.