How Montana Compares to Other States

How Montana Compares to Other States

How Montana Compares to Other States

Montana is one of the nine states that has an independent redistricting commission, one that is not controlled by the state’s Legislature. We were among the first to create ours with our 1972 Constitution. Montana’s Commission must comply with Montana’s strict transparency laws that provide for all Commission meetings to be open to the public and broadcast on the Montana Public Affairs Network.  All Commission decisions must be preceded by opportunity for public comment, and all reports and documents of the Commission are published on the Commission’s website.

The Montana Constitution requires that Commissioners are not current elected officials.  Four of the Commissioners are appointed by the leadership of the majority and minority party of the Montana House and Senate.  The fifth member, and chair of the Commission, is non-partisan. The Constitution calls for the 5th Commissioner to be chosen by the first four.  However, in all the years since the Constitution went into effect, these four have never agreed on who the 5th Commissioner should be. When they can’t agree, the Montana Supreme Court steps in and makes the appointment.

Montana’s 2020 Commission Members:

  • One person appointed by the Majority leader of the Senate – Jeff Essmann
  • One person appointed by the Minority leader of the Senate – Joe Lamson
  • One person appointed by the Majority Leader of the House – Dan Stusek
  • One person appointed by the Minority Leader of the House – Kendra Miller
  • Chair of 2020 Commission appointed by Montana Supreme Court – Maylinn Smith

Independent Commissions are more likely to draw maps that are fair, i.e., that result in fair representation for the state’s voters, both in political party and minority representation.  Measures used by political scientists to assess the partisanship of districts have indicated that Montana’s Independent Commissions have adopted maps that are within the range deemed to have minimal partisan bias.  Since the 2000 census, Montana Commissions have adopted maps that include districts with Native American concentrations such that Montana has elected about the same percentage of Native Americans to the legislature as they constitute of the state’s population.  

The other 41 states have the state legislatures decide the final maps.  In states where the Legislature is dominated by one political party, the maps are often “gerrymandered”, i.e., drawn to unfairly favor the dominant political party to the detriment of the other party and/or minority groups.  Both Democrats and Republicans have gerrymandered to favor themselves when in control of state legislatures.

In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court heard two cases that involved partisan gerrymandering.  The League of Women Voters was involved in both cases, one on behalf of Republicans and the other on behalf of Democrats. The Court’s final decision was that federal courts have no role to play in judging partisan gerrymandering; partisan fairness in drawing districts should be determined by state law.

National news stories about gerrymandering typically feature other states, not Montana.   However, the Montana's redistricting Commission proposed four maps for public reveiw, two of which are partisan gerrymandered and elimnate several Native American majority voting districts.  The Commmission has not decided on the final map.  If you feel it is important that Montana have a map that does not unduly favor one political party, let the Commission know!  Go to the Commission website for a schedule of hearings and links to submit written comments to the Commission:  https://mtredistricting.gov/

Here are links to more information about redistricting in other states: