As the Kansas Senate prepares to vote on proposed changes to the state's Congressional districts, this may be a good time for a bit of a redistricting review.
The apportionment of seats in Congress is based on the population of the states as counted by the U.S. Census Bureau during the decennial census. The states are then provided small area population counts so that they may redefine their Congressional districts to reflect changes in the state's population.
There are four Congressional districts in Kansas. The First Congressional District, which covers most of the western half of Kansas, has lost population while the other three, especially the Third District, have gained population. The Special Committee of Redistricting then has to redraw the maps so the population served by the districts is more equal. The Special Committee will do the same with the Kansas Senate, House and Board of Education districts, which have also seen population shifts.
To learn more about redistricting, and to see current proposals, the Kansas Legislative Research Department has created this site:
You can learn more about the Special Committee on Redistricting on the Kansas Legislature's site: