Shared by Melissa Smith, YCDCC Communications Committee

(Any opinions expressed in this article are those of the individual author, but the words of the Montana Democratic Platform are available to all and should encourage discussion and understanding among all Montanans.)

Many states, including Montana, are working on voter redistricting plans that will affect our government’s work for the next 10 years.

The House of Representatives is not very representative

• Despite making up 40% of the U.S. population, 23% of representatives aren’t white.
• A quarter of Congress is female — up from 5% in 1975 — but still a long way from half.
• Roughly 6 of every 10 Americans are Christian. In Congress, it’s 9 in 10.

What happens when the people in our government arent representative of our communities? We get laws that form our liberties made by people who don’t live our lives.

Read more on our representative statistics at https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/03/10/the-changing-face-of-congress