Who draws congressional districts? VICE explains the state-by-state differences

USAFacts' Lauren Woodman separates routine redistricting from partisan gerrymandering, then explains who controls the pen.

Channel: VICE News Story of October 31, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? One of VICE News's most watched videos since yesterday, with 1,392 views.

Who Actually Draws Your Congressional District?

The people drawing congressional district boundaries are not chosen the same way across the country. In VICE News's "Who Actually Draws Your Congressional District?", Lauren Woodman of USAFacts explains the different arrangements, from state legislatures to independent citizen commissions.

First, she draws a distinction between changing boundaries and manipulating them. Redistricting follows the census, adjusting districts to reflect where people live. Gerrymandering, she explains, uses that mapmaking process to favor one political party over another.

Asked who draws the maps, Woodman answers: "It's not one size fits all." She says most states use their legislatures, while others rely on independent citizens, commissions composed of elected or party figures, or hybrid arrangements.

The excerpt drew about 1,400 views since yesterday. It supplies a procedural companion to VICE News's earlier Nate Silver discussion of the political risks of favorable maps: Woodman's focus is the distinction between why boundaries need to change and who gets to change them.

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More from VICE NewsNews 3,584 views since yesterdaySilver says a 2016-style polling error could flip Senate expectationsIn a VICE News clip, the analyst explains how narrow Democratic leads could disappear if polls systematically overstate the party's support.Channel: VICE News · Story of October 30, 2026 Also in News networks and broadcastersVideo taking off 47x its usual first dayDiane Sawyer's Patrick Stewart interview closes World News TonightThe October 29 edition also covers Alaska's Senate probes and a Pentagon firing, but its comment section belongs largely to the actor.Channel: ABC News · Story of October 31, 2026 A different discovery todayVideo taking off 21x its usual first dayJimmy Kimmel replays a rally-goer who came to see "a cult right up front"A Fox News interview in Rock Hill, South Carolina, supplies the line viewers repeat most, in a monologue that also takes in Obama's tan-suit comeback.Channel: Jimmy Kimmel Live · Story of October 31, 2026

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Who draws congressional districts? VICE explains the state-by-state differences The full story on Trari: https://trari.com/en/story/vicenews-22020/?from=kit

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The numbers

The excerpt received about 1,400 views since yesterday, the most among VICE News's uploads from the past two days.

subscribers

9,300,000

no significant change in the last 7 days

total views

3,506,194,094

views per day

438,287

typical day: 256,343

the video

views

1,392

likes

56

comments

6

days online

1

subscribers: this channel and similar channels

NBC News

12,200,000

MS NOW

10,000,000

Sky News

9,390,000

VICE News

9,300,000

USA TODAY

7,600,000

CBS News

7,120,000

As of October 31, 2026 · Data source: Trari Social News, Trari Traffic Trends and Ranking Platform, Google YouTube

Subscriber, view, like and comment counts are YouTube's. Rates, usual days, rankings, comparisons and categories are Trari's own calculations.