I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 124 

To prohibit States from carrying out more than one Congressional redistricting after a decennial census and apportionment, to require States 

to conduct such redistricting through independent commissions, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2019 

Mr. COHEN (for himself, Ms. JACKSON LEE, and Mr. SWALWELL of California) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To prohibit States from carrying out more than one Congressional redistricting after a decennial census and apportionment, to require States to conduct such redistricting 

through independent commissions, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL 

4 AUTHORITY. 

5 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

6 ‘‘John Tanner Fairness and Independence in Redistricting 

7 Act’’. 


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1 (b) FINDING.—Congress finds that it has the author2 ity to establish the terms and conditions States must fol3 low in carrying out Congressional redistricting after an 

4 apportionment of Members of the House of Representa5 tives because— 

6 (1) the authority granted to Congress under ar7 ticle I, section 4 of the Constitution of the United 

8 States gives Congress the power to enact laws gov9 erning the time, place, and manner of elections for 

10 Members of the House of Representatives; and 

11 (2) the authority granted to Congress under 

12 section 5 of the fourteenth amendment to the Con13 stitution gives Congress the power to enact laws to 

14 enforce section 2 of such amendment, which requires 

15 Representatives to be apportioned among the several 

16 States according to their number. 

17 SEC. 2. LIMIT ON CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING AFTER 

18 AN APPORTIONMENT. 

19 The Act entitled ‘‘An Act for the relief of Doctor Ri20 cardo Vallejo Samala and to provide for congressional re21 districting’’, approved December 14, 1967 (2 U.S.C. 2c), 

22 is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘A State 

23 which has been redistricted in the manner provided by law 

24 after an apportionment under section 22(a) of the Act en25 titled ‘An Act to provide for the fifteenth and subsequent 


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1 decennial censuses and to provide for an apportionment 

2 of Representatives in Congress’, approved June 18, 1929 

3 (2 U.S.C. 2a), may not be redistricted again until after 

4 the next apportionment of Representatives under such sec5 tion, unless a court requires the State to conduct such 

6 subsequent redistricting to comply with the Constitution 

7 or to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

8 10301 et seq.).’’. 

9 SEC. 3. REQUIRING REDISTRICTING TO BE CONDUCTED 

10 THROUGH PLAN OF INDEPENDENT STATE 

11 COMMISSION OR PLAN OF HIGHEST STATE 

12 COURT. 

13 (a) USE OF PLAN REQUIRED.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

15 provision of law, any Congressional redistricting con16 ducted by a State shall be conducted in accordance 

17 with— 

18 (A) the redistricting plan developed by the 

19 independent redistricting commission estab20 lished in the State, in accordance with section 

21 4; or 

22 (B) if the plan developed by such commis23 sion is not enacted into law, the redistricting 

24 plan selected by the highest court in the State 


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1 or developed by a United States district court, 

2 in accordance with section 5. 

3 (2) OTHER CRITERIA AND PROCEDURES PER4 MITTED.—Nothing in this Act or the amendments 

5 made by this Act may be construed to prohibit a 

6 State from conducting Congressional redistricting in 

7 accordance with such criteria and procedures as the 

8 State considers appropriate, to the extent that such 

9 criteria and procedures are consistent with the appli10 cable requirements of this Act and the amendments 

11 made by this Act. 

12 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 22(c) of 

13 the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the fifteenth and 

14 subsequent decennial censuses and to provide for an ap15 portionment of Representatives in Congress’’, approved 

16 June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a(c)), is amended by striking 

17 ‘‘in the manner provided by the law thereof’’ and insert18 ing: ‘‘in the manner provided by the John Tanner Fair19 ness and Independence in Redistricting Act’’. 

20 SEC. 4. INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSION. 

21 (a) ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS.— 

22 (1) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.—Each State 

23 shall establish an independent redistricting commis24 sion composed of— 


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1 (A) a chair, who shall be appointed by ma2 jority vote of the other members of the commis3 sion; and 

4 (B) an equal number of members (but not 

5 fewer than one) from each of the following cat6 egories: 

7 (i) Members appointed by a member 

8 of the upper house of the State legislature 

9 who represents the political party with the 

10 greatest number of seats in that house. 

11 (ii) Members appointed by a member 

12 of the upper house of the State legislature 

13 who represents the political party with the 

14 second greatest number of seats in that 

15 house. 

16 (iii) Members appointed by a member 

17 of the lower house of the State legislature 

18 who represents the political party with the 

19 greatest number of seats in that house. 

20 (iv) Members appointed by a member 

21 of the lower house of the State legislature 

22 who represents the political party with the 

23 second greatest number of seats in that 

24 house. 


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1 (2) SPECIAL RULE FOR STATES WITH UNICAM2 ERAL LEGISLATURE.—In the case of a State with a 

3 unicameral legislature, the independent redistricting 

4 commission established under this subsection shall 

5 be composed of— 

6 (A) a chair, who shall be appointed by ma7 jority vote of the other members of the commis8 sion; and 

9 (B) an equal number of members (but not 

10 fewer than two) from each of the following cat11 egories: 

12 (i) Members appointed by a member 

13 of the legislature who shall be selected by 

14 the chair of the Government Affairs Com15 mittee of the legislature to represent the 

16 State political party whose candidate for 

17 chief executive of the State received the 

18 greatest number of votes on average in the 

19 3 most recent general elections for that of20 fice. 

21 (ii) Members appointed by a member 

22 of the legislature who shall be selected by 

23 the chair of the Government Affairs Com24 mittee of the legislature to represent the 

25 State political party whose candidate for 


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1 chief executive of the State received the 

2 second greatest number of votes on aver3 age in the 3 most recent general elections 

4 for that office. 

5 (3) ELIGIBILITY.—An individual is eligible to 

6 serve as a member of an independent redistricting 

7 commission if— 

8 (A) as of the date of appointment, the in9 dividual is registered to vote in elections for 

10 Federal office held in the State, and was reg11 istered to vote in the 2 most recent general 

12 elections for Federal office held in the State; 

13 (B) the individual did not hold public office 

14 or run as a candidate for election for public of15 fice, or serve as an employee of a political party 

16 or candidate for election for public office, at 

17 any time during the 4-year period ending on the 

18 December 31 preceding the date of appoint19 ment; and 

20 (C) the individual certifies that he or she 

21 will not run as a candidate for the office of 

22 Representative in the Congress until after the 

23 next apportionment of Representatives under 

24 section 22(a) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to 

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1 nial censuses and to provide for an apportion2 ment of Representatives in Congress’’, approved 

3 June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a). 

4 (4) VACANCY.—A vacancy in the commission 

5 shall be filled in the manner in which the original 

6 appointment was made. 

7 (5) DEADLINE.—Each State shall establish a 

8 commission under this section, and the members of 

9 the commission shall appoint the commission’s chair, 

10 not later than the first February 1 which occurs 

11 after the chief executive of a State receives the State 

12 apportionment notice. 

13 (6) APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR REQUIRED PRIOR

14 TO DEVELOPMENT OF REDISTRICTING PLAN.—The 

15 commission may not take any action to develop a re16 districting plan for the State under subsection (b) 

17 until the appointment of the commission’s chair in 

18 accordance with paragraph (1)(E). 

19 (7) REQUIRING ALL MEETINGS TO BE OPEN TO

20 PUBLIC.—The commission shall hold each of its 

21 meetings in public. 

22 (8) INTERNET SITE.—As soon as practicable 

23 after establishing the commission, the State shall es24 tablish and maintain a public internet site for the 

25 commission which meets the following requirements: 


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1 (A) The site is updated continuously to 

2 provide advance notice of commission meetings 

3 and to otherwise provide timely information on 

4 the activities of the commission. 

5 (B) The site contains the most recent 

6 available information from the Bureau of the 

7 Census on voting-age population, voter registra8 tion, and voting in the State, including pre9 cinct-level and census tract-level data with re10 spect to such information, as well as detailed 

11 maps reflecting such information. 

12 (C) The site includes interactive software 

13 to enable any individual to design a redis14 tricting plan for the State on the basis of the 

15 information described in subparagraph (B), in 

16 accordance with the criteria described in sub17 section (b)(1). 

18 (D) The site permits any individual to sub19 mit a proposed redistricting plan to the com20 mission, and to submit questions, comments, 

21 and other information with respect to the com22 mission’s activities. 

23 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF REDISTRICTING PLAN.— 

24 (1) CRITERIA.—The independent redistricting 

25 commission of a State shall develop a redistricting 


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1 plan for the State in accordance with the following 

2 criteria: 

3 (A) Adherence to the ‘‘one person, one 

4 vote’’ standard and other requirements imposed 

5 under the Constitution of the United States. 

6 (B) To the greatest extent mathematically 

7 possible, ensuring that the population of each 

8 Congressional district in the State does not 

9 vary from the population of any other Congres10 sional district in the State (as determined on 

11 the basis of the total count of persons of the 

12 most recent decennial census conducted by the 

13 Bureau of the Census). 

14 (C) Consistency with any applicable re15 quirements of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 

16 and other Federal laws. 

17 (D) To the greatest extent practicable, the 

18 maintenance of the geographic continuity of the 

19 political subdivisions of the State which are in20 cluded in the same Congressional district, in the 

21 following order of priority: 

22 (i) The continuity of counties or par23 ishes. 

24 (ii) The continuity of municipalities. 


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1 (iii) The continuity of neighborhoods 

2 (as determined on the basis of census 

3 tracts or other relevant information). 

4 (E) To the greatest extent practicable, 

5 maintaining compact districts (in accordance 

6 with such standards as the commission may es7 tablish). 

8 (F) Ensuring that districts are contiguous 

9 (except to the extent necessary to include any 

10 area which is surrounded by a body of water). 

11 (2) FACTORS PROHIBITED FROM CONSIDER12 ATION.—In developing the redistricting plan for the 

13 State, the independent redistricting commission may 

14 not take into consideration any of the following fac15 tors, except to the extent necessary to comply with 

16 the Voting Rights Act of 1965: 

17 (A) The voting history of the population of 

18 a Congressional district, except that the com19 mission may take such history into consider20 ation to the extent necessary to comply with 

21 any State law which requires the establishment 

22 of competitive Congressional districts. 

23 (B) The political party affiliation of the 

24 population of a district. 


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1 (C) The residence of incumbent Members 

2 of the House of Representatives in the State. 

3 (3) SOLICITATION OF PUBLIC INPUT IN DEVEL4 OPMENT OF PLANS.—The commission shall solicit 

5 and take into consideration comments from the pub6 lic in developing the redistricting plan for the State 

7 by holding meetings in representative geographic re8 gions of the State at which members of the public 

9 may provide such input, and by otherwise soliciting 

10 input from the public (including redistricting plans 

11 developed by members of the public) through the 

12 commission internet site and other methods. 

13 (4) PUBLIC NOTICE OF PLANS PRIOR TO SUB14 MISSION TO LEGISLATURE.—Not fewer than 7 days 

15 prior to submitting a redistricting plan to the legis16 lature of the State under subsection (c)(1), the com17 mission shall post on the commission internet site 

18 and cause to have published in newspapers of gen19 eral circulation throughout the State a notice con20 taining the following information: 

21 (A) A detailed version of the plan, includ22 ing a map showing each Congressional district 

23 established under the plan and the voting age 

24 population by race of each such district. 


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1 (B) A statement providing specific infor2 mation on how the adoption of the plan would 

3 serve the public interest. 

4 (C) Any dissenting statements of any 

5 members of the commission who did not ap6 prove of the submission of the plan to the legis7 lature. 

8 (c) SUBMISSION OF PLANS TO LEGISLATURE.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—At any time prior to the 

10 first November 1 which occurs after the chief execu11 tive of the State receives the State apportionment 

12 notice, the commission may submit redistricting 

13 plans developed by the commission under this sec14 tion to the legislature of the State. 

15 (2) CONSIDERATION OF PLAN BY LEGISLA16 TURE.—After receiving any redistricting plan under 

17 paragraph (1), the legislature of a State may— 

18 (A) approve the plan as submitted by the 

19 commission without amendment and forward 

20 the plan to the chief executive of the State; or 

21 (B) reject the plan. 

22 (3) ENACTMENT OF PLAN.— 

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—A redistricting plan de24 veloped by the commission shall be considered 

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1 warded to the chief executive of the State pur2 suant to paragraph (2)(A) and— 

3 (i) the chief executive approves the 

4 plan as forwarded by the legislature with5 out amendment; or 

6 (ii) the chief executive vetoes the plan 

7 and the legislature overrides the veto in ac8 cordance with the applicable law of the 

9 State, except that at no time may the plan 

10 be amended. 

11 (B) SPECIAL RULE.—In the case of a 

12 State in which the chief executive is prohibited 

13 under State law from acting on a redistricting 

14 plan, a redistricting plan developed by the com15 mission shall be considered to be enacted into 

16 law if— 

17 (i) the plan is submitted to the legisla18 ture of the State; and 

19 (ii) the legislature approves the plan 

20 as submitted by the commission without 

21 amendment. 

22 (d) REQUIRING MAJORITY APPROVAL FOR AC23 TIONS.—The independent redistricting commission of a 

24 State may not submit a redistricting plan to the State leg25 islature, or take any other action, without the approval 


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1 of at least a majority of its members given at a meeting 

2 at which at least a majority of its members are present. 

3 (e) TERMINATION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The independent redis5 tricting commission of a State shall terminate on the 

6 day after the date of the first regularly scheduled 

7 general election for Federal office which occurs after 

8 the chief executive of the State receives the State 

9 apportionment notice. 

10 (2) PRESERVATION OF RECORDS.—The State 

11 shall ensure that the records of the independent re12 districting commission are retained in the appro13 priate State archive in such manner as may be nec14 essary to enable the State to respond to any civil ac15 tion brought with respect to Congressional redis16 tricting in the State. 

17 SEC. 5. SELECTION OF PLAN BY COURTS. 

18 (a) STATE COURT.— 

19 (1) SUBMISSION AND SELECTION OF PLAN.—If 

20 a redistricting plan developed by the independent re21 districting commission of a State is not enacted into 

22 law under section 4(c)(3) by the first November 1 

23 which occurs after the chief executive of the State 

24 receives the State apportionment notice, the commis25 sion may submit redistricting plans developed by the 


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1 commission in accordance with section 4 to the high2 est court of the State, which may select and publish 

3 one of the submitted plans to serve as the redis4 tricting plan for the State. 

5 (2) NO MODIFICATION OF PLAN PERMITTED.— 

6 The highest court of a State may not modify any re7 districting plan submitted under this subsection. 

8 (b) FEDERAL COURT.— 

9 (1) FAILURE OF STATE COURT TO SELECT

10 PLAN.— 

11 (A) NOTICE TO COURT IF PLAN NOT SE12 LECTED BY STATE COURT.—If a State court to 

13 whom redistricting plans have been submitted 

14 under subsection (a) does not select a plan to 

15 serve as the redistricting plan for the State 

16 under such subsection on or before the first De17 cember 1 which occurs after the chief executive 

18 of the State receives the State apportionment 

19 notice, the State shall file a notice with the 

20 United States district court for the district in 

21 which the capital of the State is located. 

22 (B) DEVELOPMENT AND SELECTION OF

23 PLAN BY FEDERAL COURT.—Not later than 30 

24 days after receiving a notice from a State under 


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1 subparagraph (A), the court shall develop and 

2 publish a final redistricting plan for the State. 

3 (2) FAILURE OF STATE TO ESTABLISH COMMIS4 SION.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—If a State does not es6 tablish an independent redistricting commission 

7 under section 4 by the first September 1 which 

8 occurs after the chief executive of the State re9 ceives the State apportionment notice— 

10 (i) the State may not establish the 

11 commission; and 

12 (ii) the United States district court 

13 for the district in which the capital of the 

14 State is located shall develop and publish 

15 a final redistricting plan for the State not 

16 later than the first December 1 which oc17 curs after the chief executive of the State 

18 receives the State apportionment notice. 

19 (B) DETERMINATION OF FAILURE TO ES20 TABLISH COMMISSION.—For purposes of sub21 paragraph (A), a State shall be considered to 

22 have failed to establish an independent redis23 tricting commission by the date referred to in 

24 such subparagraph if a chair of the commission 

25 has not been appointed on or before such date. 


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1 (3) CRITERIA.—It is the sense of Congress 

2 that, in developing a redistricting plan for a State 

3 under this subsection, the district court should ad4 here to the same terms and conditions that applied 

5 to the development of the plan of the commission 

6 under section 4(b). 

7 (c) ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND RECORDS OF

8 COMMISSION.—A court which is required to select, pub9 lish, or develop a redistricting plan for a State under this 

10 section shall have access to any information, data, soft11 ware, or other records and material used by the inde12 pendent redistricting commission of the State in carrying 

13 out its duties under this Act. 

14 SEC. 6. SPECIAL RULE FOR REDISTRICTING CONDUCTED 

15 UNDER ORDER OF FEDERAL COURT. 

16 If a Federal court requires a State to conduct redis17 tricting subsequent to an apportionment of Representa18 tives in the State in order to comply with the Constitution 

19 or to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965, sections 4 

20 and 5 shall apply with respect to the redistricting, except 

21 that— 

22 (1) the deadline for the establishment of the 

23 independent redistricting commission and the ap24 pointment of the commission’s chair (as described in 

25 section 4(a)(5)) shall be the expiration of the 30-day 


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1 period which begins on the date of the final order of 

2 the Federal court to conduct the redistricting; 

3 (2) the deadline for the submission of redis4 tricting plans to the legislature by the commission, 

5 and the date of the termination of the commission 

6 (as described in section 4(c)(1) and section 4(e)) 

7 shall be the expiration of the 150-day period which 

8 begins on the date of the final order of the Federal 

9 court to conduct the redistricting; 

10 (3) the deadline for the selection and publica11 tion of the plan by the highest court of the State (as 

12 described in section 5(a)) shall be the expiration of 

13 the 180-day period which begins on the date of the 

14 final order of the Federal court to conduct the redis15 tricting; and 

16 (4) the deadline for the selection and publica17 tion of the plan by the district court of the United 

18 States (as described in section 5(b)) shall be the ex19 piration of the 210-day period which begins on the 

20 date of the final order of the Federal court to con21 duct the redistricting. 

22 SEC. 7. PAYMENTS TO STATES FOR CARRYING OUT REDIS23 TRICTING. 

24 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF PAYMENTS.—Subject to sub25 section (d), not later than 30 days after a State receives 


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1 a State apportionment notice, the Election Assistance 

2 Commission shall make a payment to the State in an 

3 amount equal to the product of— 

4 (1) the number of Representatives to which the 

5 State is entitled, as provided under the notice; and 

6 (2) $150,000. 

7 (b) USE OF FUNDS.—A State shall use the payment 

8 made under this section to establish and operate the 

9 State’s independent redistricting commission, to imple10 ment the State redistricting plan, and to otherwise carry 

11 out Congressional redistricting in the State. 

12 (c) NO PAYMENT TO STATES WITH SINGLE MEM13 BER.—The Election Assistance Commission shall not 

14 make a payment under this section to any State which 

15 is not entitled to more than one Representative under its 

16 State apportionment notice. 

17 (d) REQUIRING ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION AS

18 CONDITION OF PAYMENT.—The Election Assistance Com19 mission may not make a payment to a State under this 

20 section until the State certifies to the Commission that 

21 the State has established an independent redistricting 

22 commission, and that a chair of the commission has been 

23 appointed, in accordance with section 4. 


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1 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

3 necessary for payments under this section. 

4 SEC. 8. STATE APPORTIONMENT NOTICE DEFINED. 

5 In this Act, the ‘‘State apportionment notice’’ means, 

6 with respect to a State, the notice sent to the State from 

7 the Clerk of the House of Representatives under section 

8 22(b) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the fif9 teenth and subsequent decennial censuses and to provide 

10 for an apportionment of Representatives in Congress’’, ap11 proved June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a), of the number of 

12 Representatives to which the State is entitled. 

13 SEC. 9. NO EFFECT ON ELECTIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL 

14 OFFICE. 

15 Nothing in this Act or in any amendment made by 

16 this Act may be construed to affect the manner in which 

17 a State carries out elections for State or local office, in18 cluding the process by which a State establishes the dis19 tricts used in such elections. 

20 SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

21 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

22 apply with respect to any Congressional redistricting 

23 which occurs after the regular decennial census conducted 

24 during 2020. 

Æ 


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