GIS and redistricting: Emergent technologies, social geography, and political sensibilities

The evolving technology known as geographic information systems (GIS) and the changing political environment have transformed the way in which electoral maps are drawn. In particular, technological advances have enabled electoral cartographers to consider a wider variety of information and to produce maps that optimize various desired features more efficiently than ever before. By the same token, amendments to the Voting Rights Act (1965, 1982) and a number of subsequent court decisions have complicated the process in a number of ways. This brief overview provides a general introduction to these issues and discusses the contribution of the three articles that follow. It concludes that the next round of redistricting, following the 2000 census, will be an exciting and contentious project.