Carving Voters Out

Abstract

This article examines how the splitting of counties into multiple congressional districts affects citizens’ abilities to recall House candidates, turnout, roll off their congressional vote, and cast straight-ticket ballots. We demonstrate that while voters living in the “short end of the split” are less likely to recall their House candidates, they do behave similarly at the ballot box to voters drawn into districts containing their natural community of interest. Our results suggest the Supreme Court’s traditional focus on population equality across congressional districts might be more appropriately administered in concert with respect for natural communities of interest such as counties.