Instead of the state legislatures redistricting every 10 years, I propose an entirely new system.
The census should be conducted every 5 years, rather than 10, and upon such new federal census, new statehood, or lawful court order, the state or states within the United States should create an independent commission for state reapportionment and be overseen by the selected executives of the state thereof. The commission should be composed of one leader of each political party within the state legislature, and each shall designate one member and the state chairmen of each political party. No member of the commission should be an elected or appointed official of the United States or any state or territory, or be a non-citizen of the United States.
Once the independent commission creates a draft of the new districts for the state, the state will begin a “draft” of citizens from within every county in the state to form groups to debate the cultural, historical, and demographic legitimacy of the districts to see if they match with real-world communities. These groups will be lead with a delegate appointed by the local judge of the county.
The number of people that need to be drafted will equivalent to 1 drafted citizen per 100,000 people living within the county thereof. These groups can have a maximum of 100 citizens and each county can have a maximum of 10 groups if the population is too high. The groups will evenly divide the citizens into equal groups within the county (i.e. 150 people drafted for a county will have two groups of 75). These groups must also be composed of a proportional representation of the counties following demographics:
- Sex
- Race and ethnicity
- Socioeconomic status
- Income level
- Immigration status (as permitted by law)
However, you cannot be on the group if one of the following applies:
- Elected officials
- Appointed government officials
- Non-citizens
Once the groups have finished deliberation, the delegates will give the independent commission a summary of all the feedback from the groups and the commission will edit and change the districts to accommodate the groups. The commission will then send the new draft back to the groups for further review. The groups will then take a vote on the draft.
If a majority of the groups within the state agree with the draft, it will be certified as the official districts of the state, if not, then deliberation begins again. If this process repeats one more time with two failed votes by the groups, then the independent commission will have the option to certify the draft without consent from the groups with a super majority vote.