Trump's Terms The next redistricting battle might be who is counted in state legislative districts
Mar 11, 2026
Discussion of proposals to apportion state legislative districts using eligible voters or citizens instead of total population. Coverage of Missouri’s plan to exclude children and noncitizens from district counts. Exploration of possible Supreme Court battles over who is counted and the political shifts such a change could produce.
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Counting Voters Instead Of People Would Redraw Power
- States are debating whether state legislative districts should count only eligible voters rather than all persons.
- Missouri's plan would exclude children and noncitizen adults, a shift that could move power from diverse cities to older, whiter rural areas.
Missouri Lawsuit Pushes Adult Citizen-Only Apportionment
- Missouri's former Solicitor General and state officials advocated counting only U.S. citizen adults when drawing state legislative maps.
- Missouri's lawsuit could force the Census Bureau to produce data enabling apportionment based solely on adult citizens for 2030 maps.
Citizen-Based Districts Favor Rural Older Populations
- Redistricting based on adult citizens would likely shift representation away from younger, racially diverse urban areas toward older, whiter rural areas.
- Harvard's Nick Stephanopoulos says this change is part of GOP thinking favoring 'equal citizens' apportionment over equal persons.