Though redistricting has always been a problem in American politics, the outsized role of partisanship in the redistricting process has received unprecedented attention across the nation since 2010. This guide is intended to arm legislators, good government advocates, and activists with the knowledge needed to design an independent redistricting commission for state legislative or congressional districts. 

CLC filed suit against the U.S. Census Bureau under the Freedom of Information Act, seeking access to documents about the Bureau’s efforts to use state driver-license records to help estimate how many adult U.S. citizens live on each census block in the nation.

A coalition of eleven good government groups who advocate for a better democracy sent a letter to the leadership in the Virginia House of Delegates, urging state lawmakers to put principle over party and move past its history of gerrymandering. By passing the fair maps constitutional amendment now being considered in the Virginia General Assembly and pairing it with strong enabling legislation, state representatives can ensure that voters are able to choose their politicians under fair maps.

CLC filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Supreme Court defending the constitutionality of the state of Delaware’s partisan balance requirements.

This amicus brief was filed by the League of Women Voters of Michigan in support of Defendants-Appellees.

This amicus brief was filed by Common Cause, the Leadership Now Project, Issue One, Equal Citizens Foundation, the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, and Represent Us, in support of Defendants-Appellees.

This amicus brief was filed by the Brennan Center in support of Defendants-Appellees.

The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed an appeal from Virginia’s House of Delegates which sought to reinstate the state’s election maps after they had been struck down for racial gerrymandering. Campaign Legal Center submitted a friend-of-the-court brief with the Supreme Court in support of the Virginia citizens and voters who challenged Virginia’s racial gerrymander in September 2016.

CLC filed this comment opposing the Census Bureau’s attempt to collect state administrative records, such as Department of Motor Vehicles data, for the purpose of producing data on citizen voting-age population (CVAP). President Trump has suggested that by producing statistics on the CVAP of each census block in the United States, the Census Bureau will enable states to draw voting districts that deny representation to non-U.S. citizens and minors. However, CLC argues that even if this type of redistricting were acceptable in the abstract (which it is not), it could not be accomplished using the data the Census Bureau plans to produce. The Bureau’s CVAP estimates will be too unreliable for redistricting, in part because state administrative records on citizenship are notoriously outdated and riddled with errors. Moreover, the Bureau’s collection of state citizenship records puts the 2020 Census at risk by stoking fear of the Bureau among non-U.S. citizens and their communities.

On November 25, 2019, the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan Southern Division issued an order denying a preliminary injunction. 

Voters Not Politicians' motion to intervene was granted in the Daunt v. Benson case by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.

CLC filed this comment in response to disturbing evidence that the U.S. Census Bureau might provide less transparency about the accuracy and fairness of the 2020 Census than it did for past censuses. In recent decades, the Bureau has used data from its post-enumeration survey to calculate and publish estimated undercounts and overcounts for the U.S., for each state, and for large cities and counties within states. But according to documents disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act, the Bureau might not publish these coverage estimates for counties and cities after the 2020 Census.

These sub-state coverage estimates are critically important. When different parts of the same state are undercounted at different rates, the disproportionately undercounted communities lose their fair share of state funding and representation in statewide politics. Without sub-state coverage estimates, these communities may not know that they have suffered these injuries, and therefore will have less opportunity to advocate for policies that level the playing field. Suppressing sub-state coverage estimates also limits the ability of census advocates to engage in get-out-the-count efforts targeting historically undercounted areas. The Census Bureau therefore should publish sub-state coverage estimates, and should make sure it collects sufficient data to do so.

CLC’s founder and president Trevor Potter delivered remarks reflecting on the state of redistricting reform in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2019 decision in Rucho v. Common Cause.

On September 19, 2019, Voters Not Politicians filed a brief in opposition to the motion for preliminary injunction. 

On September 19, 2019, Voters Not Politicians filed a brief in opposition to the motion for preliminary injunction. 

On September 19, 2019, Voters Not Politicians filed a brief in support of the motion to dismiss.