'The decennial apportionment process determines the number of seats in the House of Representatives for which each state qualifies, based on population counts (for more on the apportionment process, see CRS Report R41357, The U.S. House of Representatives Apportionment Formula in Theory and Practice, by Royce Crocker). The redistricting process determines where those seats are geographically located within each state. Apportionment allocates the seats by state, while redistricting draws the maps.
Redistricting is a state process governed by federal law. Much of this law is judicially imposed because, in 1929, Congress let lapse its standards requiring districts to be made up of “contiguous and compact territory and containing as nearly as practicable an equal number of inhabitants.” If Congress chooses to legislate again in this area, its authority will come from Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution, granting the authority to Congress to change state laws pertaining to congressional elections.
The goal of redistricting is to draw boundaries around geographic areas such that each district results in “fair” representation. An effort to favor one group of interests over another by using the redistricting process to distort this fairness is often referred to as gerrymandering. Aside from distorting representation, it is believed by some that such gerrymandering diminishes electoral responsiveness by minimizing political competition among the parties.'
Stemmeret: CRS: Congressional Redistricting and the Voting Rights Act: A Legal Overview. / : L. Paige Whitaker. January 31, 2013. - 14 s.
Loven om stemmeret (VRA) fra 1965 «blev vedtaget for at håndhæve det 15. grundlovsmæssige ændringsforslag, der bestemmer, at borgernes ret til at stemme ikke nægtes eller indskrænkes på grund af race, hudfarve, eller tidligere trældom. Navnlig forbyder § 2 i VRA brugen af enhver afstemningskvalifikation eller praksis - herunder ændringer af kongressens valgkredse, der resulterer i benægtelse eller indskrænkning af retten til at stemme på grund af race, hudfarve, eller medlemskab af et sprogligt mindretal. Loven fastslår endvidere, at en overtrædelse er etableret, hvis det på grundlag af samtlige omstændigheder, er vist, at politiske processer ikke er lige åbne for medlemmer af en bestemt race eller sproglig minoritetsgruppe, at dens medlemmer har mindre chance end andre medlemmer af vælgerkorpset til at deltage og til at vælge deres repræsentanter. "
The Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965, as amended 'was enacted under Congress’s authority to enforce the 15th Amendment, which provides that the right of citizens to vote shall not be denied or abridged on account of race, color, or previous servitude. In particular, Section 2 of the VRA prohibits the use of any voting qualification or practice—including the drawing of congressional redistricting plans—that results in the denial or abridgement of the right to vote based on race, color, or membership in a language minority. The statute further provides that a violation is established if, based on the totality of circumstances, it is shown that political processes are not equally open to members of a racial or language minority group in that its members have less opportunity than other members of the electorate to participate and to elect representatives of choice.'