Redistricting is the drawing of new boundaries for representative seats. This normally occurs after the national census is taken. However, the constitution does not mention when redistricting should take place. Reapportionment is the reassigning of congressional seats. In this process, some states gain congressional seats at the expense of others. Reapportionment occurs to accommodate shifts in population, therefore power is shifted from one geographic area to another. Incumbent congressmen in the states losing congressional seats may have to run against each other. Thus, new congressional seats reapportioned to more populous states have a tendency to be become represented by minority congressional members.

Malapportionment occurs when a majority of the representatives represent a minority of the population. Malapportionment systematically advantages voters in some constituencies and disadvantages those in others. If geographical areas of large minority concentration are divided into many separate districts, then the likelihood that a minority will...