Redistricting - Our Maps MN

Overview

In 2020, The Minnesota Census Mobilization Partnership brought together communities,  nonprofits, and grantmakers to ensure a fully inclusive, nonpartisan, and accurate count in Minnesota with a focus on historically undercounted communities. The partnership’s efforts helped lead Minnesota to the #1 spot in self-response rate for the census and reached over 1.3 million people.

As the nation moves towards redistricting, the Our Maps MN campaign and coalition builds off the partnerships’ momentum and to ensure that communities are reflected in how the lines are drawn. 


Our Maps MN Campaign 

Our Maps MN is a nonpartisan grassroots campaign committed to a community-focused and transparent redistricting process in Minnesota. The campaign is driven by community organizations, grassroots organizations, civic engagement advocates and nonprofits dedicated to putting people first in the redistricting process. 

 The goals of the campaign are to: 

  • Engage Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities and other historically underrepresented commuinities in the redistricting process
  • Promote reform that increases community ownership over the process and promote community-focused redistricting
  • Achieve fair legislative and congressional district maps that reflect input from communities, and in particular BIPOC communities
  • Sustain and strengthen the community-based civic engagement infrastructure and relationships developed from the 2020 Census effort to support enduring advocacy and organizing for democracy-focused causes

To learn more about Our Maps MN visit the campaign website.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is redistricting? 

  • Redistricting is the process used by governments to redraw political district boundaries. This applies to all levels of government where district elections are held. Redistricting typically occurs one year after the Census which takes place every 10 years.
  • Redistricting is based on the idea of “One person, One vote”, which makes sure that each of our voices can be represented fairly, by creating districts that have the same number of people.

Why is redistricting important? 

  • How district lines are drawn influences who runs for public office and who is elected. Elected representatives make decisions that are important to our lives, from ensuring safe schools to adopting immigration policies. Who lives in a district can influence whether elected officials feel obligated to respond to a community’s needs. The district boundaries are in place for the next ten years, and their policy impacts can last well beyond that.

Why should I care? 

  • Redistricting has been used at times to exclude communities from political power. An example would be racial gerrymandering in which district lines are drawn to dilute an ethnic community’s fair representation which further disadvantages communities of color.
  • By fully participating in and monitoring the upcoming redistricting process, histroically underrepresented communities, such as African Americans, Latinx, Asian Americans, and Native Americans will have the opportunity to elect candidates of their choice and voice their needs and interests.
  • Redistricting is how we can influence the decision makers who represent us. District boundaries are drawn once every 10 years, so this process has long-term effects on community representation. Redistricting affects where we vote and who we vote for which directly impacts policy decisions which affect all Minnesotans.

 

Get Involved

  • Sign up for the Our Maps MN newsletter to get updates regarding redistricting, events, and campaign updates.
  • Join us for our monthly stakeholder meetings (typically the first Thursday of the month) to learn more about redistricting related topics. 

Community Mapping Resources 

Community Testimony Resources 

General Resources 

Press

Our Maps Minnesota Redistricting Press Release

Contact 

To learn more about redistricting, communities of interest mapping, or the Our Maps MN campaign contact MCF Pubic Policy Manager, May Yang at myang@mcf.org.