The members of the Senate and House of Representatives must be elected from single-member districts. The districts established are of compact and contiguous territories and are redistricted on the basis of population. The Iowa Constitution provides that the General Assembly may provide by law factors in addition to population, not in conflict with the Constitution of the United States, which may be considered in drawing senatorial districts. Such laws may not, however, permit the establishment of districts whereby a majority of the members of the Senate represent less than 40 percent of the population of the state. Congressional districts must also be composed of contiguous territory and counties may not be divided in forming districts.
The Iowa Legislature has by statute enacted additional provisions relating to redistricting. Current law requires the Legislative Service Bureau (LSB) to deliver a bill draft embodying a plan of legislative and congressional redistricting by April 1 of each year ending in one (assuming census data is available by February 1 of each year ending in one). The General Assembly introduces the redistricting plan under a procedure or rule permitting no amendments except those of a purely corrective nature. If the initial or a second plan is not approved, the LSB delivers a third plan that is subject to amendment.
Iowa statute requires that the legislative and congressional districts be established on the basis of population. The average population of the districts from the ideal population may not exceed one percent and no House or Senate district population may exceed the population of any other House or Senate district respectively by more than five percent. If a plan is challenged in the Iowa Supreme Court alleging excessive population variance, the General Assembly has the burden of justifying any variance in a legislative district in excess of one percent of the applicable ideal population for the district. Congressional districts may not exceed the ideal population by more than one percent.
Representative districts are to be drawn wholly within a single senatorial district. A district shall not be drawn for the purpose of favoring a political party, incumbent legislator or member of Congress or other person or group or for the purpose of augmenting or diluting the voting strength of a language or racial minority group. In establishing districts, no use shall be made of the addresses of incumbent legislators or members of Congress, the political affiliations of registered voters, previous election results or demographic information other than population head counts.
Iowa law also provides for the establishment of a Temporary Redistricting Advisory Commission which may direct the LSB in making decisions for which no clearly applicable guideline is provided by the statute. The Commission, upon receipt of the initial plan by the LSB, is required to conduct at least three public hearings on the plan. The Commission must submit a report summarizing information and testimony received by the Commission and making any comments and conclusions to the members of the General Assembly it deems appropriate.
Iowa General Assembly
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Last update: 1995
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