How to Testify at a Redistricting Hearing and Keep Your Community Together

In the spring and summer of 2021, thirteen Michigan residents who had never drawn a political map in their lives travelled the state to listen. They were the first members of the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, chosen partly by random drawing, and the state constitution told them that after equal population, federal law and contiguity, the next thing they had to respect was "communities of interest." Nobody could tell them in advance where those communities were. So they held public hearings in cities across the state and asked people to come and say. Residents brought hand-drawn maps and printed ones. Some described a neighbourhood bound by a church and a corner store; others, a farm region linked by a co-op and a county fair, or a string of lake towns that live and die by tourism. A lot of it was ordinary testimony, and that was the point: the commission could not keep a community together if no one told it the community existed. The public comment became part of the record the commission worked from. This guide is about how to be one of those voices, whether your state uses a commission, a legislature or a court, and whether the map in question is for Congress or your city council.

In short: Redistricting bodies are required or encouraged to keep "communities of interest" together, but they only know where those communities are when residents tell them. Good testimony names the community, draws its boundaries on a map, explains what its members share and what they need from government, and asks for a specific result. The steps below walk through each part.

Why community testimony works

Mapmakers face rules and trade-offs. Districts must have nearly equal population. They must comply with the Voting Rights Act. Many states also ask them to respect city and county lines, keep districts compact, and preserve communities of interest. When those goals collide, the mapmaker has to choose, and testimony helps decide what wins.

A "community of interest" is generally a group of people with shared social, economic, cultural or historical ties who would benefit from being represented together. Many state laws define the term broadly and some exclude relationships with political parties, incumbents or candidates. A community is not "the Democrats in our town" or "the people who like our congressman." It is the people who rely on the same hospital, work at the same plants, share a language, flood in the same storms or fight for the same transit line.

Testimony is also a public record. If a map later splits a community that was clearly described at a hearing, that record can matter in court or in the next round of public pressure.

Before you start: find out who is drawing and when

1. Identify the body drawing the map. It may be an independent commission, the state legislature, a politician commission, a court, or for local districts a city council, county board or school board. Your state's redistricting website or election office will say.
2. Find the schedule. Note the dates for public hearings, written comment deadlines, draft map releases and final votes. Many bodies hold a round of hearings before drawing and another after drafts appear. The second round is where you can respond to actual lines.
3. Learn the rules that bind the mapmakers. Read the criteria in the state constitution, statute or commission rules. Note whether communities of interest are listed, and where they rank among other criteria.
4. Check how testimony is accepted. Most bodies accept in-person testimony, remote testimony and written submissions. Many also accept maps uploaded through an online portal. Note time limits for speakers; two to three minutes is common.

Define your community

1. Name the community. Use a short, specific name: "the Eastside Vietnamese business corridor," "the Upper Valley dairy towns," "the neighbourhoods along the Route 9 bus line." A clear name helps the mapmakers refer back to it.
2. List what ties people together. Write down the shared institutions and concerns. Examples: schools and school districts, a hospital or clinic network, places of worship, a shared language, an industry or major employer, a river or watershed, transit lines, public housing, flood or wildfire risk, a history of discrimination or displacement, a tribal nation, or a farming economy.
3. List what the community needs from government. Be concrete: funding for a port, flood control, rural broadband, language access at the courthouse, protection of a water source. This shows why being split between several representatives would hurt.
4. Gather a few facts you can verify. Use public sources such as Census Bureau data, school enrollment figures or local government reports. Use numbers only when you are sure of them. One accurate figure beats five guesses.

Draw it on a map

1. Choose a mapping tool. Free web tools such as Districtr, built by a university redistricting lab, Representable and Dave's Redistricting App let you draw a community's boundaries and export the result. Many commissions also offer their own mapping tool on their website. Use whichever one the body drawing your map accepts.
2. Draw the boundary. Trace the area where your community lives, works or gathers. Follow real features such as streets, rivers or school district lines where you can. Do not worry about population counts; you are drawing a community, not a district.
3. Save and export. Save a link or file the commission can open, and keep a screenshot. Note the map's ID if the portal assigns one.
4. Check your map against current districts. Overlay the current district lines if the tool allows it, and note whether your community is now split and how.

Write the testimony

1. Open with who you are and where you live. Give your name, your city or neighbourhood, and how long you have been there. If you speak for a group, say so and name it.
2. Describe the community in two or three sentences. Use the name from step 5 and the ties from step 6.
3. Explain the shared needs. Use one or two examples from step 7. A specific story, such as a flood that hit both sides of a district line or a factory closing that affected the whole valley, is more persuasive than a general claim.
4. Make a specific request. Ask that the community be kept whole in one district, or if it is too large, that it be divided as few times as possible and along a named line. If you are responding to a draft map, name the draft and the district number.
5. Refer to your map. Give the map's ID or say that you have submitted it through the portal.
6. Stay within time. Write the testimony out, read it aloud, and time it. Cut it until it fits with a few seconds to spare.
7. Submit it in writing as well. Even if you speak, file a written version through the comment portal so it becomes part of the record.

A sample, for shape only

Here is a short example of the structure. Adapt the content to your own community.

"My name is Maria, and I have lived in the Riverside neighbourhood for nineteen years. I am speaking for the Riverside Neighbors Association. Riverside, Northgate and the Mill District share the same elementary and middle schools, the same flood plain along the river, and the same bus line to the hospital downtown. When the river flooded, all three neighbourhoods applied for the same disaster aid. Under the current map, the river is the district line and we are split between two representatives, neither of whom sees us as their main concern. I have submitted a map, number 1234 on your portal, that shows the three neighbourhoods together. Please keep Riverside, Northgate and the Mill District in one district. Thank you."

That is a little over a hundred words. It names the place, describes the ties, gives one concrete example, makes a single request and points to a map.

On the day of the hearing

1. Sign up to speak early. Many bodies require speakers to register in advance, online or at the door. Late sign-ups may not be heard.
2. Bring printed copies. Bring a few copies of your written testimony and a printed version of your map. Some commissions collect them for the record; others hand them to staff.
3. Arrive before the start time, or log in early if remote. Test your audio and video if you are testifying online. Have your testimony open on screen or on paper.
4. Wait for your name, then begin with who you are. State your name and where you live first, as you practised.
5. Speak plainly and slowly. Commissioners hear many speakers in a row. A calm, clear voice with one specific request is easier to remember than a fast list of complaints.
6. Answer questions if asked, and say so if you do not know. Commissioners sometimes ask where exactly a boundary runs or whether a neighbouring area belongs too. It is fine to say you will submit an answer in writing, and then do it.
7. Listen to other speakers. Others may describe overlapping communities. That can help you refine your map, and occasionally reveals allies whose testimony supports yours.

If you are organizing a group

Organizations, from neighbourhood associations to unions to faith congregations, can be especially effective because they can show a community's shape with many voices.

1. Hold a mapping session first. Gather members, put a large map on the table or on a projector, and draw the community together. Disagreements about where it ends are useful; resolve them before the hearing.
2. Submit one shared map. A single map, endorsed by the group and referenced by every speaker, is clearer than ten slightly different ones.
3. Divide the testimony. Ask different members to speak about different ties: one about schools, one about jobs, one about a disaster or public health issue. Together they build a fuller picture without repeating each other.
4. Bring people who rarely speak in public. A first-time speaker describing daily life can be more persuasive than a seasoned advocate. Help them practise; if they are more comfortable in another language, ask the body in advance whether interpreters are available.
5. Keep a record. Save copies of all testimony and note the date and hearing. If the final map splits your community, that record is the basis for a request to reconsider, or for anyone who later challenges the map.

Avoid the mistakes that weaken testimony

1. Do not argue for a party or a politician. Testimony asking for a district a particular party can win, or to protect an incumbent, is easy to dismiss and may be legally irrelevant under your state's rules.
2. Do not exaggerate. A claim the mapmakers can check and find wrong damages everything else you said.
3. Do not use a form letter without changes. Organized campaigns are fine and useful. Identical letters repeated hundreds of times tend to be counted as one view. Add your own details.
4. Do not stop after one hearing. Return when draft maps come out. Say whether the draft keeps your community whole, and if not, propose a specific fix.

After the final map

1. Read the final map against your testimony. Check whether your community is whole, divided as you proposed, or split in a way you did not ask for.
2. Write a short follow-up either way. Thank the body if your request was honoured. If it was not, say so on the record and explain the effect, briefly and specifically.
3. Share what you learned. Tell neighbours which district they are now in and who represents them. New lines confuse voters, and a simple note helps people find their polling place and their representatives.

When the map is local

Most of this guide applies to city councils, county commissions and school boards as well. Local redistricting usually gets less attention and fewer speakers, which means each voice carries more weight. In some states, laws now require local governments to hold public hearings and accept community maps when they redraw. Ask your city clerk or county election office when the next local redistricting will happen, and get on the notice list.

The people this protects

It is tempting to think map fights belong to party strategists and lawyers. Most of the time, though, the decision about whether a neighbourhood stays together is made by tired people at a long table who are trying to get it right and do not know your town. A retired bus driver who explains why the eastside and the hospital belong together, a farmer who shows the co-op's service area, a pastor who maps the congregation's families: these are the people who make maps fairer, and they come from every party and none. A commission can only weigh what someone has put in front of it. You can be part of that record.

What you can do

• Find your current representatives and districts. Find your representatives to see who represents you in Congress and the state legislature.
• Follow your state's redistricting news. Our voting rights and redistricting topic page gathers news on commissions, hearings and lawsuits, including the mid-decade redraws of 2025.
• Connect with groups that train testifiers. Many civil rights and voting groups hold map-drawing workshops before hearings. Find one in the organizations directory.
• Keep your registration current. The voting page has registration deadlines and voting rules for every state, so your district's new lines come with your vote attached.