Scored Maps from the Redistricting Report Card

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

Process

State Legislature

Indiana's state legislative and congressional districts are drawn by the state Legislature by ordinary statute, and are subject to the Governor's veto. The Legislature can override vetoes with a simple majority in each chamber.

Backup Commission

If the state fails to adopt congressional districts, a five-member backup commission, selected by legislative leaders, is formed to draw them. There is no backup commission in the event of a failure to adopt state legislative district lines.

Criteria

In addition to the federal requirements of one person, one vote and the Voting Rights Act, Indiana’s state constitution (Art. IV § 5) requires that state legislative districts be contiguous. There are no state law requirements for drawing congressional districts.

Public Input

While Indiana law does not require public hearings, the House and Senate Election Committees held several public hearings in March 2011. It is likely that similar meetings will be held in 2021.

In addition, Common Cause Indiana is planning to form its own citizens redistricting commission for the 2021 cycle. It also intends to publish a public mapping website so that residents can contribute their own redistricting plans.

Issues

Pitfalls

Both chambers of the Legislature and the Governorship are currently controlled by Republicans. Single-party control over redistricting increases the risk of partisan gerrymandering.

Potential Reform

In 2020, five separate redistricting bills were introduced in the Legislature. Every bill died in committee. 

• Senate Bill 293 would have created a redistricting portal for citizens to draw maps and mandated joint hearings for more public input.
• House Bill 1024, Senate Bill 138, and Senate Bill 105 would all have created a Redistricting Commission to redraw state legislative and congressional districts.
• Senate Bill 87 would have created redistricting standards and ensured that the public had the tools to draw maps and a process to submit them for the Legislature’s consideration.

Actions

In 2021, participate in the Legislature’s public input process.

• Obtain Indiana 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 Legislature and Common Cause Indiana’s commission start 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.

Read the Common Cause Activist Handbook on Redistricting Reform to learn about what reforms have been successful in the past, and what steps to take to enact reform in the future. While the deadline to change the constitutional process for this redistricting cycle has passed, it is never too early to plan and organize for reforms.

Contacts

All IN For Democracy

Indiana Local Government Redistricting

ACLU of Indiana

League of Women Voters of Indiana

Sources

All About Redistricting

NCSL

Ballotpedia