Redistricting Explained

What Is Redistricting?

Redistricting is redrawing the lines of election districts so each one holds about the same number of people. Those lines decide which neighborhoods vote together, so they can decide which party is favored before anyone casts a ballot. When the lines are drawn to lock in that kind of advantage, it is called gerrymandering.

Did Your State Get a New Map for 2026?

Congressional lines usually change once a decade, after the census. Federal law does not forbid redrawing in between, and most state constitutions are silent, so for 2026 nine states put new maps in place and seven more tried. Before 2025, only two states had redrawn voluntarily in the middle of a decade since 1970, Ballotpedia reports.

Your state's congressional map for 2026

Choose your state to see whether its map changed, what happened, how many seats the new map was drawn to shift, and who draws the lines. The map shows one question at a time.

Choose your state to see its rules Select a state AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareFloridaGeorgiaHawaiiIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMarylandMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth CarolinaSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyoming

Court cases can still change a map before November. Your sample ballot from your election office shows the district you will vote in.

New maps for 2026Who draws the map

New maps for 2026

• New map drawn to favor Republicans (7 states)
• New map drawn to favor Democrats (2 states)
• New map suspended for 2026 (Missouri)
• Tried and blocked, rejected, or dropped (7 states)
• No new map for 2026

Sources: Ballotpedia, Redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections; All About Redistricting (Loyola Law School); PBS News, Missouri Supreme Court ruling, September 3, 2026; Supreme Court of the United States, People Not Politicians v. Onder (26A388), September 25, 2026. Verified October 14, 2026.

New maps for 2026

State	New map for 2026	What happened	Seats the new map was drawn to shift	Who draws the congressional map
Alabama	Yes. A new map drawn to favor Republicans	Supreme Court lifted a lower-court order blocking the legislature's 2023 map, June 2, 2026	One seat toward Republicans	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Alaska	No district lines to redraw	—	—	No map. The state has one House seat, elected statewide
Arizona	No new map for 2026	—	—	An independent commission
Arkansas	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
California	Yes. A new map drawn to favor Democrats	Voters approved Prop 50, November 4, 2025	Five seats toward Democrats	An independent commission
Colorado	No new map for 2026	—	—	An independent commission
Connecticut	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Delaware	No district lines to redraw	—	—	No map. The state has one House seat, elected statewide
Florida	Yes. A new map drawn to favor Republicans	Legislature after Callais, signed May 4, 2026. State lawsuits continue.	Four seats toward Republicans	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Georgia	No. A redraw was tried and did not take effect	A June 2026 special session, called to redraw maps for 2028, ended without a new congressional map; Republican leaders cited pending lawsuits.	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Hawaii	No new map for 2026	—	—	A commission of elected officials or their appointees
Idaho	No new map for 2026	—	—	An independent commission
Illinois	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Indiana	No. A redraw was tried and did not take effect	The state Senate rejected a new map, December 11, 2025.	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Iowa	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Kansas	No. A redraw was tried and did not take effect	A special session never met because too few House Republicans signed the petition, and the 2026 session passed no new map.	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Kentucky	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Louisiana	Yes. A new map drawn to favor Republicans	Legislature after Callais, May 29, 2026; ended the Black majority in the 6th District	One seat toward Republicans	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Maine	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Maryland	No. A redraw was tried and did not take effect	The House passed a map in February 2026; it stalled in the Senate. An August special session put a constitutional amendment on congressional map standards on the November 3 ballot as Question 3.	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Massachusetts	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Michigan	No new map for 2026	—	—	An independent commission
Minnesota	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Mississippi	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Missouri	No. A new map passed but is suspended, so the 2022 map is in use	Legislature passed a map in September 2025, used in the August 2026 primary; a voter referendum petition suspended it. On September 3, 2026, the Missouri Supreme Court kept the 2022 map for the general election and sent the new map to voters as Proposition A on November 3. The U.S. Supreme Court blocked federal orders to use the new map on September 10 and 25.	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Montana	No new map for 2026	—	—	An independent commission
Nebraska	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Nevada	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
New Hampshire	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
New Jersey	No new map for 2026	—	—	A commission of elected officials or their appointees
New Mexico	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
New York	No. A redraw was tried and did not take effect	A court-ordered redraw of one district was halted by the Supreme Court, March 2, 2026.	—	An independent commission
North Carolina	Yes. A new map drawn to favor Republicans	Legislature, October 22, 2025	One seat toward Republicans	The state legislature, passed like a bill
North Dakota	No district lines to redraw	—	—	No map. The state has one House seat, elected statewide
Ohio	Yes. A new map drawn to favor Republicans	Redistricting commission, October 31, 2025	Two seats toward Republicans	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Oklahoma	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Oregon	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Pennsylvania	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Rhode Island	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
South Carolina	No. A redraw was tried and did not take effect	The Senate fell short of the needed votes, May 2026.	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
South Dakota	No district lines to redraw	—	—	No map. The state has one House seat, elected statewide
Tennessee	Yes. A new map drawn to favor Republicans	Legislature split Memphis, May 7, 2026	One seat toward Republicans	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Texas	Yes. A new map drawn to favor Republicans	Legislature, signed August 29, 2025. A federal court struck it; the Supreme Court let it take effect.	Five seats toward Republicans	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Utah	Yes. A new map drawn to favor Democrats	Court-imposed map after a state anti-gerrymandering ruling, November 10, 2025	One seat toward Democrats	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Vermont	No district lines to redraw	—	—	No map. The state has one House seat, elected statewide
Virginia	No. A redraw was tried and did not take effect	Voters approved a redistricting amendment April 21, 2026; the Virginia Supreme Court struck it May 8.	—	A commission of elected officials or their appointees
Washington	No new map for 2026	—	—	An independent commission
West Virginia	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Wisconsin	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Wyoming	No district lines to redraw	—	—	No map. The state has one House seat, elected statewide

See all states in a table

All states New map drawn to favor Republicans (7 states)New map drawn to favor Democrats (2 states)New map suspended for 2026 (Missouri)Tried and blocked, rejected, or dropped (7 states)No new map for 2026 Showing 50 of 50 states

State	New map for 2026	What happened	Seats the new map was drawn to shift	Who draws the congressional map
Alabama	Yes. A new map drawn to favor Republicans	Supreme Court lifted a lower-court order blocking the legislature's 2023 map, June 2, 2026	One seat toward Republicans	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Alaska	No district lines to redraw	—	—	No map. The state has one House seat, elected statewide
Arizona	No new map for 2026	—	—	An independent commission
Arkansas	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
California	Yes. A new map drawn to favor Democrats	Voters approved Prop 50, November 4, 2025	Five seats toward Democrats	An independent commission
Colorado	No new map for 2026	—	—	An independent commission
Connecticut	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Delaware	No district lines to redraw	—	—	No map. The state has one House seat, elected statewide
Florida	Yes. A new map drawn to favor Republicans	Legislature after Callais, signed May 4, 2026. State lawsuits continue.	Four seats toward Republicans	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Georgia	No. A redraw was tried and did not take effect	A June 2026 special session, called to redraw maps for 2028, ended without a new congressional map; Republican leaders cited pending lawsuits.	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Hawaii	No new map for 2026	—	—	A commission of elected officials or their appointees
Idaho	No new map for 2026	—	—	An independent commission
Illinois	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Indiana	No. A redraw was tried and did not take effect	The state Senate rejected a new map, December 11, 2025.	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Iowa	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Kansas	No. A redraw was tried and did not take effect	A special session never met because too few House Republicans signed the petition, and the 2026 session passed no new map.	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Kentucky	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Louisiana	Yes. A new map drawn to favor Republicans	Legislature after Callais, May 29, 2026; ended the Black majority in the 6th District	One seat toward Republicans	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Maine	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Maryland	No. A redraw was tried and did not take effect	The House passed a map in February 2026; it stalled in the Senate. An August special session put a constitutional amendment on congressional map standards on the November 3 ballot as Question 3.	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Massachusetts	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Michigan	No new map for 2026	—	—	An independent commission
Minnesota	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Mississippi	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Missouri	No. A new map passed but is suspended, so the 2022 map is in use	Legislature passed a map in September 2025, used in the August 2026 primary; a voter referendum petition suspended it. On September 3, 2026, the Missouri Supreme Court kept the 2022 map for the general election and sent the new map to voters as Proposition A on November 3. The U.S. Supreme Court blocked federal orders to use the new map on September 10 and 25.	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Montana	No new map for 2026	—	—	An independent commission
Nebraska	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Nevada	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
New Hampshire	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
New Jersey	No new map for 2026	—	—	A commission of elected officials or their appointees
New Mexico	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
New York	No. A redraw was tried and did not take effect	A court-ordered redraw of one district was halted by the Supreme Court, March 2, 2026.	—	An independent commission
North Carolina	Yes. A new map drawn to favor Republicans	Legislature, October 22, 2025	One seat toward Republicans	The state legislature, passed like a bill
North Dakota	No district lines to redraw	—	—	No map. The state has one House seat, elected statewide
Ohio	Yes. A new map drawn to favor Republicans	Redistricting commission, October 31, 2025	Two seats toward Republicans	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Oklahoma	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Oregon	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Pennsylvania	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Rhode Island	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
South Carolina	No. A redraw was tried and did not take effect	The Senate fell short of the needed votes, May 2026.	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
South Dakota	No district lines to redraw	—	—	No map. The state has one House seat, elected statewide
Tennessee	Yes. A new map drawn to favor Republicans	Legislature split Memphis, May 7, 2026	One seat toward Republicans	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Texas	Yes. A new map drawn to favor Republicans	Legislature, signed August 29, 2025. A federal court struck it; the Supreme Court let it take effect.	Five seats toward Republicans	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Utah	Yes. A new map drawn to favor Democrats	Court-imposed map after a state anti-gerrymandering ruling, November 10, 2025	One seat toward Democrats	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Vermont	No district lines to redraw	—	—	No map. The state has one House seat, elected statewide
Virginia	No. A redraw was tried and did not take effect	Voters approved a redistricting amendment April 21, 2026; the Virginia Supreme Court struck it May 8.	—	A commission of elected officials or their appointees
Washington	No new map for 2026	—	—	An independent commission
West Virginia	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Wisconsin	No new map for 2026	—	—	The state legislature, passed like a bill
Wyoming	No district lines to redraw	—	—	No map. The state has one House seat, elected statewide

Sources: Ballotpedia, Redistricting ahead of the 2026 elections; All About Redistricting (Loyola Law School); PBS News, Missouri Supreme Court ruling, September 3, 2026; Supreme Court of the United States, People Not Politicians v. Onder (26A388), September 25, 2026. Verified October 14, 2026.

Seven new maps were drawn to favor Republicans by 15 seats, and two were drawn to favor Democrats by 6, a net of 9. Texas and California account for 10 of the 21.

Seats each 2026 map was drawn to shift

Category	Value
Texas: +5 Republican	5
Florida: +4 Republican	4
Ohio: +2 Republican	2
North Carolina: +1 Republican	1
Tennessee: +1 Republican	1
Louisiana: +1 Republican	1
Alabama: +1 Republican	1
Utah: +1 Democratic	1
California: +5 Democratic	5

Sources: Ballotpedia and state reporting on each enacted map, re-checked October 6, 2026.

Same Voters, Different Lines in North Carolina

North Carolina shows what a map can do on its own, because its voters barely moved between two elections while its lines changed. In 2022, the state used an interim map drawn by court-appointed special masters. In April 2023, a newly elected state supreme court reversed its own ruling against partisan gerrymandering, and in October the legislature passed a new congressional map (SB 757).

Republican candidates won about 52 to 53% of the vote both years. The court’s map turned that share into half the seats, and the legislature’s map turned it into 10 of 14. The gerrymandering explainer shows the techniques behind a result like this, called packing and cracking.

How a Congressional Map Gets Made

The normal cycle takes three steps, and only the last one involves choices about power.

1. The census counts people. Every 10 years, the Census Bureau counts everyone in the country. Our census explainer shows which groups the count misses.
2. States gain or lose House seats. The 435 seats are divided among the states by population.
3. States draw the lines. A legislature, a commission, or a court decides which neighborhoods land in which district.

Legal Requirements for Every Map

Two federal rules apply to every congressional map:

1. Equal population. Districts must be as nearly equal in population as practicable. For congressional maps, the standard is strict: even small deviations can be challenged.
2. Voting Rights Act compliance. Maps cannot dilute the voting power of racial or language minorities. The Callais ruling in April 2026 made these claims harder to win.

States add their own requirements: districts made of one connected piece of territory, compact shapes, keeping counties or cities whole, keeping communities of interest together, or banning maps drawn to favor a party. Whether those rules are enforced depends on who draws the maps and who reviews them.

Who Draws the Maps in Each State

In two out of three states with more than one House seat, the legislature draws the congressional map. The map passes like any other bill, so the party that controls the legislature, and often the governor’s office, has the most say over the final lines (All About Redistricting).

33

3

8

6

• State legislature (33 states) The map passes like a bill
• Politician commission (3 states) Hawaii, New Jersey, Virginia
• Independent commission (8 states) AZ, CA, CO, ID, MI, MT, NY, WA
• One House seat, no map (6 states) AK, DE, ND, SD, VT, WY

Who holds primary control of congressional lines in each state for the 2020s cycle. New York and Washington let the legislature override the commission by supermajority. Source: All About Redistricting, Loyola Law School.

Independent commissions reduce the role of politicians in drawing lines, but they do not remove politics. Commissioners are appointed through political offices, and two of the eight states let lawmakers override the result.

States use one of four methods.

• Legislature: lawmakers pass the map like regular legislation, and the governor can veto it in most states.
• Independent commission: commissioners draw and approve the final map, and current lawmakers cannot serve.
• Politician commission: elected officials or their appointees draw the map.
• Court-drawn: a court draws the map when litigation blocks or throws out the plan a state passed.

Iowa’s model: a nonpartisan legislative agency draws the maps without political data, and the legislature can vote them up or down but cannot change them. Iowa is counted among the legislature states because lawmakers still cast the final vote.

Congressional Maps vs. State Legislative Maps

The same state can use one process for congressional districts and a different one for state House and Senate districts. Congressional maps require near-exact population equality. State legislative maps require “substantial” equality, a slightly looser standard. Both must comply with the Voting Rights Act.

What the Callais Ruling Changed

On April 29, 2026, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in Louisiana v. Callais that Louisiana’s second Black-majority congressional district was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The ruling also changed what someone has to prove to win a Voting Rights Act claim against a map.

The new requirements came fast in practice. Florida signed a new map on May 4, and Tennessee split its only majority-Black district on May 7 by dividing Memphis among three Republican districts. Louisiana dismantled its 6th District on May 29. On June 2, the Supreme Court lifted a lower court order that had blocked Alabama’s 2023 map, so the state can use it in 2026. Georgia’s governor called a special session for June; Georgia is not among the nine states with a new congressional map for 2026, per Ballotpedia.

Lower courts are still applying the new test in pending cases, so the ruling’s full reach depends on decisions that have not come yet.

How the 2020 Census Changed the Map

The Census Bureau released apportionment results on April 26, 2021. Sun Belt states gained representation, and Rust Belt and Northeast states lost it.

Texas gained two House seats after the 2020 Census, the most of any state, and seven states lost one.

House seats gained or lost after the 2020 Census

Category	Value
Texas	2
Florida	1
North Carolina	1
Colorado	1
Montana	1
Oregon	1
California	-1
Illinois	-1
Michigan	-1
New York	-1
Ohio	-1
Pennsylvania	-1
West Virginia	-1

Source: Census Bureau, 2020 Census apportionment results, April 26, 2021.

Every state that gained or lost a seat had to redraw from scratch, and many of those 2021 maps went to court.

Where Prisoners Count Changes Who Has Power

The Census counts incarcerated people where the prison is located, not where they lived before incarceration. This inflates the political power of rural districts with large prisons and reduces representation in the urban and suburban communities prisoners came from.

As of 2023, 13 states reallocated prisoner data to home addresses for redistricting, NCSL reported: Maryland, New York, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington. Illinois will join them starting with the 2030 cycle.

The Prison Policy Initiative tracks reform efforts nationwide.

When Redrawing Is Not Gerrymandering

Not every new map is a power grab, and calling every redraw a gerrymander makes the real ones harder to spot.

• Redrawing after each census is required. Populations shift, and the equal-population rule forces every multi-seat state to redraw.
• Some new maps are court remedies. Utah’s 2026 map was imposed by a state court enforcing a voter-approved ban on partisan gerrymandering, and Alabama’s second Black-opportunity district came from a court order.
• A lopsided result is not proof on its own. Where voters live matters. When one party’s voters cluster in cities, even neutral lines can give the other party more seats than its vote share, which is why analysts compare a map against many neutral alternatives.
• Commissions are not free of politics. Their members are appointed through political offices, and California voters chose in 2025 to set their commission’s map aside for 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a state redraw its congressional map in the middle of a decade? Yes, unless its own constitution or laws forbid it. Federal law sets no limit, which is what the Redistricting Reform Act would change.

Does a new map change who represents me right away? No. Your current member of Congress serves until January 3, 2027. The new districts apply to the November 2026 election.

Can courts stop a partisan gerrymander? Federal courts will not. In Rucho v. Common Cause (2019), the Supreme Court held 5-4 that “partisan gerrymandering claims present political questions beyond the reach of the federal courts” (Cornell LII). The opinion noted that state statutes and constitutions can give state courts standards to apply, and a Utah judge struck the state’s map in 2025.

What You Can Do

1. If your state has a new map for 2026, check your district before you vote. Your state or local election office lists the district on your sample ballot (find yours). Democracy Docket and Ballotpedia track the lawsuits that could still change a map.
2. If your legislature draws the maps, ask it to bind itself. Ask your state legislators to back a ban on mid-decade redraws and public hearings before any map vote. Find them at Open States.
3. If your state has a commission, plan to take part. Commissions hold public hearings when they draw new maps after the 2030 census. Common Cause tracks commission work and campaigns for new ones, and Campaign Legal Center offers model legislation.
4. Vote in state court races. Since Rucho, federal courts do not hear partisan gerrymandering claims, so state courts decide them under state law, as in Utah’s case.
5. If your state still counts prisoners at the prison, push to change it. The Prison Policy Initiative has state-specific resources.
6. Ask your members of Congress to cosponsor the Redistricting Reform Act. H.R. 5449 and S. 2885 would bar mid-decade redraws unless a court orders one and would require independent commissions for congressional maps. The House bill had 60 cosponsors and the Senate bill 3 as of October 6, 2026, and neither has had a committee vote. Use the letter and call script below.

The primary elections explainer shows why safe districts shift power to primaries. Check your state page for local redistricting context.