In recent years, citizens, the media and political experts have expressed growing concern over redistricting--the process of drawing new district lines to determine which residents will be grouped together when electing representatives. This concern has focused on the steady decline in competitiveness in congressional and legislative districts across the country and the recent efforts of several states to redraw legislative districts mid-decade to gain partisan advantage. In addition, most observers agree that there is a fundamental conflict of interest when state legislators exercise the power to redraw the boundaries of their own districts.
