Following the results of the 2020 Census, a new court-drawn map has laid out the boundaries for Minnesota’s eight congressional districts and 201 Legislative Districts that will be used for the next decade.
The five-member panel of judges that drew the updated map pursued a policy of ‘least change’ that balanced a fair reflection of where population grew and decreased without trying to make radical changes from the previous boundary.
Looking ahead, the 2022 election will feature these new legislative boundaries. While some legislators represent very similar districts, others may no longer live in the district they previously represented, and others may live in the same district as another legislator.
Under the Minnesota Constitution, it is the Legislature’s responsibility to draw these maps and for the Governor to sign off on them. However, no agreement on a map was reached by the deadline of February 15, leading to the decision by this panel of judges. While it would’ve been difficult to find agreement due to delays caused by COVID-19 and divided government, Senate Republicans failed to even submit a proposal by the deadline.
