Redistricting commission
Definition
A redistricting commission is a body, instead of the state legislature, tasked with drawing electoral district lines. Some are made up of sitting politicians ("politician commissions"), while others bar current officeholders and aim for nonpartisan or bipartisan membership.1
Why it matters
Letting legislators draw their own districts creates an obvious conflict of interest, since they can protect incumbents and their party's majority. Commissions move that decision to a separate body, though how insulated from politics they really are depends entirely on how members are selected and who can serve.
Seen in the wild
Michigan voters approved Proposal 2 on November 6, 2018, a citizen initiative led by Voters Not Politicians, creating a 13-member Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, randomly selected and split among Democrats, Republicans, and independents, that took congressional and legislative map-drawing away from the state legislature ahead of the 2020 census.2