By Nancy Leifer
First Published in the Missoulian on August 9, 2026
Montanans value independence. In our 1972 Constitution Convention (ConCon), Montana was one of the first states to create an independent redistricting commission. The 100 citizen ConCon delegates wrestled with creating a fair process for drawing the boundaries of congressional and legislative districts, called “redistricting.” Previously, nearly all states assigned redistricting to their state legislature. But experience around the country showed that legislatures were not good at drawing fair redistricting maps.
Legislatures, with a dominant political party, whether Republican or Democrat, invariably approved maps that gave an unfair advantage to the dominant party. Even legislatures that were somewhat evenly divided between the two major political parties, like Montana at the time, found it hard to come up with politically fair lines. That happened here in Montana in the 1960s when states were first required under the U.S. Constitution to draw fair legislative lines. Our legislatively proposed districts were so out of whack that the federal court forced our legislature to do it again. And when the second attempt wouldn’t pass muster, the courts had to impose a districting plan upon us. That was Montana’s recent history when our ConCon delegates gathered in 1972.
Since having legislators draw their own legislative districts was like having “the fox in the hen house,” ConCon delegates felt the need to create a method of redrawing district lines without legislators — an independent redistricting commission. They wanted to ensure that Montana’s districts were drawn to fairly represent the voters — the people, not the politicians.
Prior to 1972, Montana had 23 legislative districts — some single counties and some multi-county. The multiple legislators were elected at large. Some counties had as many as 12 legislative seats, forcing those voters to choose 12 legislators from 24 candidates — hardly a good way to have fully informed voting. So, Montana’s new Constitution mandated 100 representatives and 50 senators in single-member districts, where every voter had to elect only one state senator and one state representative. That gave the people a more reasonable opportunity to make an informed vote.
To ensure fairness — keep the fox out of the henhouse — an independent method of drawing district lines was adopted, hoping to avoid federal courts drawing our lines for us. Now, every 10 years when the U.S. Census Bureau conducts its survey of all households and produces updated and accurate maps of population distribution, Montana appoints a new independent redistricting commission to redraw congressional and legislative district boundaries.
There are five members on Montana’s Apportionment and Redistricting Commission — four appointed, one each, by the majority and minority party leaders in the Montana House and Senate. If these four commissioners cannot agree on a fifth member to be chair, the Montana Supreme Court appoints the fifth member/chair. That has happened after every decennial census since 1972. None of those serving on the redistricting commission can be current elected officials, and the Montana Legislature has no authority to approve the final plan.
The independent commission also draws congressional district lines when we have two Congressional districts (1970 and 1980; and 2020) but doesn’t when we only have one member of Congress (1990, 2000 and 2010). After the 2030 national census, a new independent commission will draw new congressional and legislative boundaries.
Montana’s Constitution created an independent redistricting commission to ensure that our congressional and legislative district maps fairly represent the voters, not the politicians. Since 1972, the fox is no longer in the henhouse and the federal courts have not had to draw our district lines. Our districts are fairly drawn and are reflective of our electorate. Let’s make sure it stays that way.
Nancy Leifer resides in Missoula and was President of the League of Women Voters of Montana for eight years. Nancy has served as Treasurer and Board Member of Friends of the Montana Constitution since its inception in 2022, the 50th Anniversary of Montana’s 1972 Constitutional Convention.