Legislative Redistricting in Montana
The Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission will be dividing the state into 100 Representative districts for the Montana Legislature during 2022. The Commission needs to hear from Montanans about where to draw the lines for legislative districts. The Commission is already taking public comment on legislative maps and will continue through the late summer and fall of 2022. The commission must finalize a map by the end of 2022 to submit the plan to the Montana Legislature in early 2023 for additional comments. More information about public hearings on draft maps is available on the Commission's website, link below.
The resources below can help citizens prepare to give testimony and engage with the public input process.
Creating fair districts requires balancing many factors. Political competitiveness ensures those elected work hard to represent a broad range of constituents and improves their responsiveness to the voters. Political parity ensures that each political party will have representation in proportion to the party’s overall share of voters. Both require looking at voting pattern data to assess fairness. Communities of interest are defined by the people within them and depend upon citizen input. Minimizing dividing counties, cities and towns, and other existing boundaries must be balanced against all the other factors.
Citizen input should be considered in drawing a line in a specific way. This can only happen if citizens express their comments, concerns, and ideas to the Commission. Although Montana’s Commission is independent of legislative control, four of the five commissioners are political appointees who are concerned that their party gains the most advantage they can. The Commission needs to hear from everyday voters who are more concerned about fairness than about political gain. Citizen input creates a written record the Commission takes into account in making a final decision. Now is your chance to speak up and let the Commission know what is important to you!
Montana Legislative Redistricting Resources
- Download an information sheet on
Legislative Redistricting in Montana. - Visit the website for the Montana Districting and Apportionment Commission and sign up for updates.
- Download a worksheet on how to submit public comment on your community of interest: Communities of Interest Testimony: A worksheet for community members.
Videos on Redistricting: Representable, Dave's Redistricting App: District Mapping Tool Builder, and District Builder: Redistricting Mapping Tool Training:
