Why is redistricting done every 10 years?
The US Constitution (Article 1, Section 2) requires that the government count the population of the country in a census held each decade. The last census was in 2000. The next will be in 2010. The Constitution says that once the census is complete, the House of Representatives must be reapportioned in line with each state’s population. States that grow significantly, for instance, may gain a representative in the House. The US Constitution also requires that each Representative actually represent an equal number of citizens. Since some districts’ population will have grown more than other districts, the geographic area each district covers has to be updated so that each district is equal in population. It works the same way for state Senate and House of Delegates districts. The Virginia Constitution mandates a redistricting each decade in line with the census.
