While politicians and activists argue about redistricting, there's a process to make it happen

Texas redistricting: Legal requirements explained

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President Trump's demand that Texas congressional lines be redrawn to find more Republican seats notwithstanding, the mid-decade exercise is unorthodox but legal.

Guidelines for Redistricting

The backstory:

It's the U.S. Constitution that mandates states draw congressional lines, after each census, to reflect population changes. One of the arguments offered by Texas Republicans is that about 2 million more people have moved to the state since the last census, so it's appropriate to redraw the lines.
 

To get there, there are some specific guidelines.

First, districts have to represent roughly equal populations so that each member of Congress represents the same number of people.

 It's the legal concept of 'One person, one vote'. Like squeezing a balloon, if a district gets smaller in one place, it's got to get bigger somewhere else, so that it stays equal.

Voting Rights Act Considerations

That's where the Voting Rights Act, and judicial precedent, come into play, which is the point of contention for much of the arguing today. 

Passed in 1965, the relevant part is 'Section 2', which stipulates district lines can't disenfranchise minority populations, which are identified by race, color, or certain languages.  

In Texas, it's the Black and Hispanic communities most at risk and entitled to a so-called 'majority-minority' district if it's big enough, in a defined area, and in danger of being racially overruled at the ballot box.

Legal Challenges and Partisan Strategies

That's where Texas Republicans have to start, to survive a legal challenge, while still trying to solidify districts they believe will lock-in victories.

Some legal experts, though, believe it will open the door for any number of states to follow suit, to focus on their own partisan advantage.

What they're saying:

"I think that's the danger of this redistricting plan in Texas, that it will prompt other states to take a look at their maps and try to think, you know, is there a way that we can wring-out more partisan advantage from the geography of the state," says University of Houston Assistant Professor of Law, David Froomkin, who believes the new, proposed Congressional districts would result in additional Republican seats.