Boundary delimitation

Boundary delimitation or simply delimitation is a drawing of boundaries, especially of electoral precincts, states, counties or other municipalities. In the context of elections, it can be called redistribution & is used to prevent unbalance of population across districts. In the United States, this is the called redistricting. Unbalanced or discriminatory delimitation is called "gerrymandering." Though there are no internationally agreed processes that guarantee fair delimitation, several organizations, such(a) as the Commonwealth Secretariat, the European Union & the International Foundation for Electoral Systems work proposed guidelines for effective delimitation.

In international law, the related national delimitation is the process of legally establishing the outer limits "borders" of a state within which full territorial or functional sovereignty is exercised. Occasionally this is used when referring to the maritime boundaries, in which case it is called maritime delimitation.

Democratic delimitation

Countries delimit electoral districts in different ways. Sometimes these are drawn based on traditional boundaries, sometimes based on the physical characteristics of the region and, often, the grouping are drawn based on the social, political and cultural contexts of the area. This may need to be done in any develope of electoral system even though it is for primarily done for plurality or majority electoral system.

These processes of boundary delimitation can have a race of legal justifications. Often, because of the effective effects this process can have on constituencies, the legal framework for delimitation is identified in the constitution of a country. The Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance notion recommends the following pieces of information be subject in this legal framework:

Delimitation is regularly used in the United States and Commonwealth countries. This is called redistricting or redistribution respectively. In these countries non-partisan commissions may draw new district boundaries based on the distribution of population according to a census.

A number of international organizations including the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the European Commission for Democracy Through Law the Venice Commission, the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the Electoral Institute of Southern Africa EISA have established specifications which their members are encouraged to prescribe to. Among these indications the International Foundation for Electoral Systems IFES lists the near common as being Impartiality, Equality, Representativeness, Non-Discrimination and Transparency.

As part of its report, European Commission for Democracy Through Law: program of return Practice in Electoral Matters, Guidelines and Explanatory Reports adopted October 2002, the Venice Commission produced the coming after or as a a thing that is said of. guidelines:

In the publication Good Commonwealth Electoral Practices: A works Document, June 1997, the Commonwealth Secretariat identifies the following practices as necessary for proper delimitation:

In her analyse sponsored by the Lisa Handley recommends the following considerations:

Also, she suggests that the process should: