Article 1, Section 2, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution states that “Representatives…shall be distributed among the several States…according to their respective numbers.” » Apportionment is the mathematical process of dividing and allocating the four hundred and thirty-five seats in the House of Representatives among the fifty states based on population counts collected by the Census Bureau. This process, according to the Constitution, must be carried out “during each subsequent term of ten years.” Each of the fifty states is guaranteed a representative. The number of members of each state's House of Representatives fluctuates every ten years due to population differences. Redistricting is the legislative political process of redrawing geographic congressional district boundaries based on population following the decennial census. Each state is required to follow certain Supreme Court requirements regarding redistricting. The respective districts within a state must ensure population equality, contiguity, compactness and freedom from discrimination against minorities. Districts may be drawn to protect incumbents. The process of deliberately changing districts in order to increase the partisan advantage of a particular political party is called gerrymandering. For The Redistricting Game's first assignment, I was a redistricting consultant for the state of Jefferson and chose to work for the Democratic Party. My mission was to establish population equality by ensuring that every district in the state had virtually the same number of residents, between 640,000 and 650,000 residents. The Virtual State of Jefferson has four district representatives. Rep. Tyree Hugger, Rep. Emma Powerment, Rep. Manny Pulative and Rep. Celia Coen-Valley representing districts 1...... middle of paper ...... n on a bipartisan commission or worse, by the state legislature. I think a bipartisan commission could ultimately result in bipartisan gerrymandering. On the other hand, the party that controls the state legislature often draws district lines in favor of its own political interests. An independent commission ensures fair, apolitical congressional district plans that cannot be vetoed by the governor, who also acts in favor of the interests of his political party. I believe that democracy in a state is achievable when the people legitimately vote for the representatives they want, but not the other way around. Works Cited Dye, Thomas R., L. Tucker Gibson, Jr., and Clay Robison. Politics in America. Ninth ed. Flight. 2. New York, NY: Longman, 2011. 337. Print. Gaskins, Keesha. "Texas Redistricting 101." Brennan Center for Justice. NYU Law School, January 12, 2012. Web. March 9. 2012.