Elections & Voting

Overview of resources on elections and voting, with focus on Connecticut

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Introduction

Introduction

The terms Apportionment, Reapportionment, and Redistricting are used to discuss how voting districts are formed and altered. There are technical differences, but the terms are often interchanged incorrectly.

The 2021 Redistricting Project of the Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) states:

"The purpose of redistricting is to establish and maintain voting districts that are faithful to the principle of one-person, one-vote. In Connecticut, responsibility for redrawing legislative and congressional district lines generally rests with the General Assembly."

The League of Women Voters Redistricting page (link below) explains:

"Redistricting, or community districting, is the process of creating representational district maps for states and local communities. It impacts how our communities are represented and how resources are distributed. "

Terminology

Apportionment - the process of distributing representatives (or seats) in the U.S. House of Representatives among the 50 states based on the apportionment population counts from the decennial census.[1]

Voting districts are based on population, and are drawn on local, state, and national levels. See the individual pages in this guide. Voters are assigned to voting districts based on where they live. Voting districts are also called electoral districts or election districts, and sometimes wards on the local level.

Statewide district and territory-wide district - elections for: President/Vice President (through the electoral college); U.S. Senate; U.S. Constitutional Amendments; statewide Connecticut Constitutional Offices (Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of the State, State Treasurer, State Comptroller, and State Attorney General); Connecticut Constitutional amendments. Voters still caste their ballots in local voting districts, so this is more of a technical distinction.

Congressional district - the district of your local member of the U.S. House of Representatives based on population counts in the Decennial Census. U.S. territories and Washington, D.C. do not have representation in Congress.

State Legislative district - The two chambers (House and Senate) of the Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) have different districts.

Local Municipal district- districts within the town for municipal government elections.

Connecticut Districts

Connecticut Districts

2021 Redistricting