| Congressional Boundaries | Drawn by hybrid commission system |
| State Boundaries | Drawn by hybrid commission system |
| Governor's Party | Republican |
| Legislative Party | Republican |
Scored Maps from the Redistricting Report Card
| Iowa 2021 Final State Senate Map - Enacted | Graded | Sat Dec 09 2023 |
| Iowa 2021 Final Congressional Map - Enacted | Graded | Mon Oct 02 2023 |
| Iowa 2021 Final State House Map - Enacted | Metrics calculated | Thu Oct 21 2021 |
| Iowa 2021 Draft Staff State Senate Map | Metrics calculated | Fri Sep 17 2021 |
| Iowa 2021 Draft Staff State House Map | Metrics calculated | Fri Sep 17 2021 |
| Iowa 2021 Draft Staff Congressional Map | Metrics calculated | Fri Sep 17 2021 |
Communities of Interest
Check out Communities of Interest collected in this state on Representable
Learn about Communities of Interest in this state
Census-related Redistricting Timeline Delays
Congressional
Alert: Guarded| Final Map Deadline | 2022-02-28 |
| Deadline Type | Candidate filing - signature collection (filing period start) |
| Other Dates |
|
| Additional Notes | Has previously done legislative and congressional redistricting simultaneously |
State Legislative
Alert: Severe| Final Map Deadline | 2021-09-15 |
| Deadline Type | Constitutional |
| Other Dates |
|
| News Sources | No 'easy button' for dealing with delay in Iowa congressional, legislative redistricting |
Process
Hybrid Commission System
Iowa has one of the nation's first redistricting commission processes. Civil servants in the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency (LSA), guided by a five-member bipartisan redistricting advisory commission, draft up to three maps, which the Legislature can accept or reject (or modify, after a certain number of rejections). The success of this process depends on courtesy between legislators and a respect for democratic norms.
Criteria
In addition to the federal requirements of one person, one vote and the Voting Rights Act, Iowa’s state constitution (Art. III §§ 34, 37) requires that state legislative and congressional districts be compact, contiguous, and preserve political subdivisions. Consideration of partisan data is prohibited except where required by federal law, as is intentionally favoring or disfavoring an incumbent, person, or group (Iowa Code § 42.4(5)).
Public Input
Per state statute (Iowa Code § 42.6), the redistricting advisory commission must hold at least three public hearings in different regions of the state and release a report to the Legislature summarizing the testimony. The commission held four hearings in April 2011.
Issues
Pitfalls
Iowa currently has a Republican trifecta. Although Iowa's redistricting process is typically uncontroversial, single-party control tends to increase the risk of partisan gerrymandering.
Actions
Participate in the commission’s public input process.
- Obtain Iowa redistricting data from OpenPrecincts.
- Start to plan out what defines your community – whether it’s a shared economic interest, school districts, or other social or other cultural, historical, or economic interests – and how that can be represented on a map. This will come in handy once the advisory commission starts collecting feedback.
- Use software tools such as Dave's Redistricting App and Districtr to draw district maps showing either (a) what a fair map would look like, or (b) where the community you believe should be better represented is located.
Contacts
League of Women Voters of Iowa