Missouri completed its legislative redistricting on March 15, setting in place district maps that will be in effect for the Nov. 8 elections. Missouri was the 43rd state to complete legislative redistricting. The state’s Judicial Redistricting Commission (JRC) filed the new state Senate district boundaries with the secretary of state, while the House Independent Bipartisan Citizens Commission unanimously approved the state House’s district boundaries in early January.
The JRC completed the senate redistricting process after the Senate Independent Bipartisan Citizens Commission failed to submit proposed maps to the secretary of state’s office by the Dec. 23, 2021, deadline. Missouri Appeals Court Justice Cynthia Lynette Martin chaired the JRC.
Redistricting is the process of drawing new congressional and state legislative district boundaries that happens every decade following the release of U.S. census figures. Criteria for drawing legislative maps may vary from state to state, but most states impose requirements such as contiguity, compactness, consideration of communities of interest, or respect for political boundaries.
In the U.S., there are 7,383 state legislative seats and 435 congressional districts. New legislative district maps have been drawn for 1,709 of 1,972 state Senate seats (86.7%) and 4,504 of 5,411 state House seats (83.2%). New congressional district maps have been drawn for 365 of the 435 seats (83.9%) in the U.S. House of Representatives. Missouri has not completed congressional redistricting as of April 5, 2022.
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