Who Gets to Redraw the Map?

Referendums in Colorado, Maryland, Missouri to set rules for redistricting beyond mandated Census adjustments

Voters in three states will decide whether they’re willing to wink away more representative congressional districts if allowing a mid-Census change would help a particular party’s goal to become a majority party in the U.S. House.

Explanation of gerrymandering from Voting Rights Foundation

Is it rigged if voters say it’s OK?

Texas’ Gov. Greg Abbott kicked off months of redistricting wars when he called the Texas Legislature back into session, exclusively to redesign its 38 districts that lean 25 Republican vs. 13 Democrat districts. The districts were redesigned with potential to shift five Democrat seats to Republican. California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom countered by pushing a ballot initiative that would allow his state to redistrict its 52 districts, where Democrats held 43 and Republicans 9. Voters supported the new map 2-1, which was created to give Democrats an advantage in 48 districts.

Other states – both Republican and Democrat dominated – explored ways to rig their House districts into new and bizarre shapes that assure outcomes that please political-party leaders over voter representation. Proposals tended to pass, though judicial scrutiny cast many aside on technicalities.

These three ballot initiatives face voter approval on the 2026 General Election. All have attracted millions of dollars from viewpoint groups, many of which have limited connections to the particular states.

None of these measures would go into effect before the 2028 election.

Colorado

Voters will decide whether to support Colorado Amendment 86, a Republican-led ballot issue that proposes to allow the potential of redistricting between every 10-year adjustment after the U.S. Census, if both the redistricting commission and the Colorado Supreme Court agree with opening and rejiggering the maps.

Voting no would keep intact the districts set up by the independent redistricting commission, using a measure passed in 2018 that established the apolitical commission to create districts in the expected 10-year cycles, with the goal to prevent gerrymandering. 

The Colorado Supreme Court struck down other ballot initiatives covering redistricting. The most notable was a pair of Democrat-supported issues that the court struck down because the second initiative about approving specific districts relied upon passing the first issue about how the process would work.

The map for approval in the second initiative would have turned the districts that leaned 4 Democrat, 3 Republican, and 1 toss-up into a 7-1 split favoring Democrats. The justices -- all appointed by Democrat governors -- unanimously threw out the Democrat-supporting initiatives, along with other Republican measures besides the one that voters will see on their ballots. 

Colorado Amendment 86 would require any congressional redistricting between census cycles to receive approval from the state's independent redistricting commission and Supreme Court. It would also prohibit maps intentionally drawn to favor one political party. As a constitutional amendment, it needs 55% voter approval to pass.The American Politics Research Lab report released Oct. 29 puts 37% of those polled in favor of the amendment, 28% opposed, and 34% unsure.

Maryland

Question 3 would change the Maryland Constitution, easing the way for the Maryland General Assembly to redraw U.S. House districts, potentially to the favor of one party, while it limits the ability of the Maryland Supreme Court to challenge those districts.

The original ballot question emerged from a two-day emergency session of the Maryland General Assembly. Two lower courts blocked the measure, but the Maryland Supreme Court ruled that it could remain on the November ballot after finding its wording misleading. The court ordered revised language in time for ballot printing.

A caveat: Maryland’s legislation would have minimal impact on the composition of its U.S. House delegation that has 7 Democrats to 1 Republican; the Democrat-friendly version would only loosen one seat.

The ballot issue may be as unpopular as it would have narrow impact. In a poll released Oct. 7, 53% of those interviewed opposed Question 3, according to pollsters at the Institute of Politics at the University of Maryland Baltimore County; 25% supported it and 19% were undecided. The compilation came from weighing the results of two pollsters, one Democrat and another Republican, yet the results echoed each other.

In one poll, 57% of respondents said that creating districts to favor a political party or candidate  is wrong.

The irony? Democrat incumbent Gov. Wes Moore is the familiar face pushing the bill that’s polling behind, yet his own candidacy has support of 51% of voters to his Republican challenger Dan Cox’s 24%, with 14% undecided. Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-1 in Maryland.

Missouri

Proposition A asks voters to approve the Missouri General Assembly's legislation that redrew the state’s U.S. House districts in the 2025 Extraordinary Session, new districts that Trump sought last year.

Missouri’s current U.S. House delegation is made up of 6 Republicans to 2 Democrats. Under the remapped districts put up to voters under Proposition A, the delegation would likely become a 7-1 split. It would happen by dividing Kansas City residents – who currently are in largely in the urban, Democrat-represented 5th district – into revamped 4th, 5th, and 6th districts that include mixed urban, suburban, and rural voters that would dilute Kansas City’s black population.

The Missouri Supreme Court ruled in September that the state's 2025 redistricting law could not take effect without voter approval following a successful referendum petition. The U.S. Supreme Court subsequently left the ruling in place, meaning Missouri voters would use the 2022 congressional districts in the 2026 election while deciding whether to approve the legislature's newer map for future elections.

Polls consistently show a dead heat: On Point Politics compiled results that it released Nov. 2, showing that 49.3% of voters support the measure. An earlier poll showed a closer 3-way split, though it also used language emphasizing that counties would be left intact, yet left out that this methodology would split Kansas City voters, likely shifting a Democrat seat to a Republican one.

For an explanation of gerrymandering view our latest video: https://youtube.com/shorts/zD9pn1ohMeA?feature=share