I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2978 

To require States to conduct Congressional redistricting through independent 

commissions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 2, 2013 

Mr. LOWENTHAL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To require States to conduct Congressional 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 ‘‘Let the People Draw the Lines Act of 2013’’. 

7 (b) FINDING.—Congress finds that it has the author8 ity to establish the terms and conditions States must fol9 low in carrying out Congressional redistricting after an 


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1 apportionment of Members of the House of Representa2 tives because— 

3 (1) the authority granted to Congress under ar4 ticle I, section 4 of the Constitution of the United 

5 States gives Congress the power to enact laws gov6 erning the time, place, and manner of elections for 

7 Members of the House of Representatives; and 

8 (2) the authority granted to Congress under 

9 section 5 of the fourteenth amendment to the Con10 stitution gives Congress the power to enact laws to 

11 enforce section 2 of such amendment, which requires 

12 Representatives to be apportioned among the several 

13 States according to their number. 

14 SEC. 2. LIMIT ON CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING AFTER 

15 AN APPORTIONMENT. 

16 The Act entitled ‘‘An Act for the relief of Doctor Ri17 cardo Vallejo Samala and to provide for congressional re18 districting’’, approved December 14, 1967 (2 U.S.C. 2c), 

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

20 which has been redistricted in the manner provided by law 

21 after an apportionment under section 22(a) of the Act en22 titled ‘An Act to provide for the fifteenth and subsequent 

23 decennial censuses and to provide for an apportionment 

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

25 (2 U.S.C. 2a), may not be redistricted again until after 


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1 the next apportionment of Representatives under such sec2 tion, unless a court requires the State to conduct such 

3 subsequent redistricting to comply with the Constitution 

4 or to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 

5 1973 et seq.).’’. 

6 SEC. 3. REQUIRING CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING TO 

7 BE CONDUCTED THROUGH PLAN OF INDE8 PENDENT STATE COMMISSION. 

9 (a) USE OF PLAN REQUIRED.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

11 provision of law, any Congressional redistricting con12 ducted by a State shall be conducted in accordance 

13 with— 

14 (A) the redistricting plan developed and 

15 enacted into law by the independent redis16 tricting commission established in the State, in 

17 accordance with section 5; or 

18 (B) if a plan developed by such commission 

19 is not enacted into law, the redistricting plan 

20 selected by the highest court in the State or de21 veloped by a United States district court, in ac22 cordance with section 6. 

23 (2) EXCEPTION FOR STATES USING EXISTING

24 NONPARTISAN INDEPENDENT COMMISSIONS.— 


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1 (A) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) does not 

2 apply to a State in which, under law that is in 

3 effect continuously on and after the date of the 

4 enactment of this Act, Congressional redis5 tricting is conducted in accordance with a plan 

6 developed by a nonpartisan independent com7 mission. 

8 (B) NONPARTISAN INDEPENDENT STA9 TUS.—For purposes of this paragraph, a com10 mission shall be considered to be a nonpartisan 

11 independent commission if the number of its 

12 members who are affiliated with the political 

13 party with the largest percentage of the reg14 istered voters in the State who are affiliated 

15 with a political party (as determined with re16 spect to the most recent Statewide election for 

17 Federal office held in the State for which such 

18 information is available) is equal to the number 

19 of its members who are affiliated with the polit20 ical party with the second largest percentage of 

21 the registered voters in the State who are affili22 ated with a political party (as so determined). 

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

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

25 subsequent decennial censuses and to provide for an apVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:47 Aug 10, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2978.IH H2978

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1 portionment of Representatives in Congress’’, approved 

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

3 ‘‘in the manner provided by the law thereof’’ and insert4 ing: ‘‘in the manner provided by the Let the People Draw 

5 the Lines Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 4. INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSION. 

7 (a) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall establish 

9 an independent redistricting commission composed 

10 of 14 members appointed as follows: 

11 (A) 5 members from the final majority se12 lection pool (as described in subparagraph (A) 

13 of subsection (b)(4)), of whom— 

14 (i) 2 shall be appointed by the leader 

15 of the party in the upper house of the 

16 State legislature whose members are affili17 ated with the same political party as the 

18 individuals in such pool; 

19 (ii) 2 shall be appointed by the leader 

20 of the party in the lower house of the State 

21 legislature whose members are affiliated 

22 with the same political party as the indi23 viduals in such pool; and 


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1 (iii) 1 shall be appointed on a random 

2 basis by the selection panel described in 

3 subsection (b)(1). 

4 (B) 5 members from the final minority se5 lection pool (as described in subparagraph (B) 

6 of subsection (b)(4)), of whom— 

7 (i) 2 shall be appointed by the leader 

8 of the party in the upper house of the 

9 State legislature whose members are affili10 ated with the same political party as the 

11 individuals in such pool; 

12 (ii) 2 shall be appointed by the leader 

13 of the party in the lower house of the State 

14 legislature whose members are affiliated 

15 with the same political party as the indi16 viduals in such pool; and 

17 (iii) 1 shall be appointed on a random 

18 basis by the selection panel described in 

19 subsection (b)(1). 

20 (C) 4 members from the final independent 

21 selection pool (as described in subparagraph (C) 

22 of subsection (b)(4)), each of whom shall be ap23 pointed on a random basis by the selection 

24 panel described in subsection (b)(1). 


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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— 

4 (A) the appointments referred to in clauses 

5 (i) and (ii) of paragraph (1)(A) shall be made 

6 by the leader of the party in the legislature 

7 whose members are affiliated with the same po8 litical party as the individuals in the final ma9 jority selection pool; and 

10 (B) the appointments referred to in clauses 

11 (i) and (ii) of paragraph (1)(B) shall be made 

12 by the leader of the party in the legislature 

13 whose members are affiliated with the same po14 litical party as the individuals in the final mi15 nority selection pool. 

16 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF SELECTION POOLS.— 

17 (1) INITIAL POOL OF NOMINEES.— 

18 (A) DEVELOPMENT OF POOL BY PANEL OF

19 RETIRED JUDGES.—Not later than January 1 

20 of each year in which a decennial census is con21 ducted, the highest court of each State shall ap22 point a panel of retired judges of courts of the 

23 State (hereafter referred to as the ‘‘selection 

24 panel’’) to develop an initial pool of individuals 

25 who are eligible to serve as members of the 


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1 independent redistricting commission of the 

2 State under this Act. 

3 (B) ENCOURAGING RESIDENTS TO APPLY

4 FOR INCLUSION IN POOL.—The selection panel 

5 shall take such steps as may be necessary to en6 sure that residents of the State across various 

7 geographic regions and demographic groups are 

8 aware of the opportunity to serve on the com9 mission, including publicizing the role of the 

10 panel and using newspapers, broadcast media, 

11 and online sources to encourage individuals to 

12 apply for inclusion in the initial pool developed 

13 under this paragraph. 

14 (C) INDIVIDUALS WITHIN POOL.—The se15 lection panel shall include an individual within 

16 the initial pool of eligible individuals under this 

17 paragraph if— 

18 (i) the individual submits an applica19 tion to the panel for inclusion in the pool, 

20 at such time as the panel may require; and 

21 (ii) the individual meets the criteria 

22 for eligibility under subsection (c) for serv23 ice as a member of the independent redis24 tricting commission. 


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1 (D) PUBLICATION OF NAMES OF APPLI2 CANTS AND REASONS FOR REJECTION OF IN3 CLUSION.—Not later than the first August 10 

4 occurring after its appointment, the selection 

5 panel shall make public— 

6 (i) the name of each individual who 

7 applies to be included in the initial pool 

8 under this paragraph; and 

9 (ii) in the case of any individual who 

10 applies to be included in the pool but is not 

11 so included, the reasons for the failure of 

12 the panel to include the individual in the 

13 pool. 

14 (2) INTERMEDIATE SELECTION POOL.— 

15 (A) SELECTIONS FROM INITIAL POOL.— 

16 Not later than the first October 1 occurring 

17 after its appointment, the selection panel shall 

18 establish and present to the legislature of the 

19 State an intermediate selection pool of 60 indi20 viduals who are eligible to serve as members of 

21 the independent redistricting commission of the 

22 State under this Act, consisting of individuals 

23 in the following categories: 

24 (i) A majority category, consisting of 

25 20 individuals who are affiliated with the 


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1 political party with the largest percentage 

2 of the registered voters in the State who 

3 are affiliated with a political party (as de4 termined with respect to the most recent 

5 Statewide election for Federal office held 

6 in the State for which such information is 

7 available). 

8 (ii) A minority category, consisting of 

9 20 individuals who are affiliated with the 

10 political party with the second largest per11 centage of the registered voters in the 

12 State who are affiliated with a political 

13 party (as so determined). 

14 (iii) An independent category, con15 sisting of 20 individuals who are not affili16 ated with either of the political parties de17 scribed in clause (i) or clause (ii). 

18 (B) FACTORS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN

19 ESTABLISHING POOL.—In selecting individuals 

20 for the intermediate selection pool under this 

21 paragraph, the selection panel shall take into 

22 consideration the analytical skills of the individ23 uals selected, their ability to work on an impar24 tial basis, and the need for the pool to reflect 


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1 the representative demographic groups and geo2 graphic regions of the State. 

3 (C) DETERMINATION OF POLITICAL PARTY

4 AFFILIATION.—For purposes of this section, an 

5 individual shall be considered to be affiliated 

6 with a political party if the individual has been 

7 continuously registered to vote with the party 

8 during the 3-year period ending on the date of 

9 the individual’s appointment. 

10 (3) REMOVAL OF INDIVIDUALS FROM INTER11 MEDIATE SELECTION POOL BY LEADERS OF LEGIS12 LATURE.— 

13 (A) REMOVAL.—Not later than the first 

14 November 15 occurring after the appointment 

15 of the selection panel, each of the following in16 dividuals may reduce the number of individuals 

17 in the intermediate selection pool under para18 graph (2)(A) by removing not more than 2 indi19 viduals from each of the 3 categories described 

20 in such paragraph: 

21 (i) The leader of the party with the 

22 greatest number of seats in the upper 

23 house of the State legislature. 


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1 (ii) The leader of the party with the 

2 greatest number of seats in the lower 

3 house of the State legislature. 

4 (iii) The leader of the party with the 

5 second greatest number of seats in the 

6 upper house of the State legislature. 

7 (iv) The leader of the party with the 

8 second greatest number of seats in the 

9 lower house of the State legislature. 

10 (B) SPECIAL RULE FOR STATES WITH UNI11 CAMERAL LEGISLATURE.—In the case of a 

12 State with a unicameral legislature— 

13 (i) the leader of the party with the 

14 greatest number of seats in the legislature 

15 may exercise the removal authority de16 scribed in clauses (i) and (ii) of subpara17 graph (A); and 

18 (ii) the leader of the party with the 

19 second greatest number of seats in the leg20 islature may exercise the removal authority 

21 described in clauses (iii) and (iv) of sub22 paragraph (A). 

23 (4) FINAL SELECTION POOLS.—Not later than 

24 the first November 20 occurring after the appoint25 ment of the selection panel, the selection panel shall 


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1 establish the following final selection pools of indi2 viduals who may be appointed to serve on the inde3 pendent redistricting commission under subsection 

4 (a): 

5 (A) A final majority selection pool, con6 sisting of 10 individuals selected at random 

7 from the majority category under clause (i) of 

8 paragraph (2)(A), as reduced under paragraph 

9 (3). 

10 (B) A final minority selection pool, con11 sisting of 10 individuals selected at random 

12 from the minority category under clause (ii) of 

13 paragraph (2)(A), as reduced under paragraph 

14 (3). 

15 (C) A final independent selection pool, con16 sisting of 10 individuals selected at random 

17 from the independent category under clause (ii) 

18 of paragraph (2)(A), as reduced under para19 graph (3). 

20 (c) CRITERIA FOR ELIGIBILITY.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—An individual is eligible to 

22 serve as a member of an independent redistricting 

23 commission if the individual meets each of the fol24 lowing criteria: 


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1 (A) As of the date of appointment, the in2 dividual is registered to vote in elections for 

3 Federal office held in the State. 

4 (B) The individual has voted in at least 2 

5 of the 3 most recent Statewide general elections 

6 held prior to the date of appointment. 

7 (C) During the 3-year period ending on the 

8 date of the individual’s appointment, the indi9 vidual has been continuously registered to vote 

10 with the same political party, or has not been 

11 registered to vote with any political party. 

12 (D) The individual provides the selection 

13 panel with a written statement containing the 

14 following assurances: 

15 (i) An assurance that the individual 

16 shall commit to carrying out the individ17 ual’s duties under this Act in an honest, 

18 independent, and impartial fashion, and to 

19 upholding public confidence in the integrity 

20 of the redistricting process. 

21 (ii) An assurance that, during the cov22 ered periods described in paragraph (3), 

23 the individual has not taken and will not 

24 take any action which would disqualify the 


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1 individual from serving as a member of the 

2 commission under such paragraph. 

3 (2) DISQUALIFICATIONS.—An individual is not 

4 eligible to serve as a member of the commission if 

5 any of the following applies during any of the cov6 ered periods described in paragraph (3): 

7 (A) The individual or (in the case of the 

8 covered periods described in subparagraphs (A) 

9 and (B) of paragraph (3)) an immediate family 

10 member of the individual holds public office or 

11 is a candidate for election for public office. 

12 (B) The individual or (in the case of the 

13 covered periods described in subparagraphs (A) 

14 and (B) of paragraph (3)) an immediate family 

15 member of the individual serves as an officer of 

16 a political party or as an officer, employee, or 

17 paid consultant of a campaign committee of a 

18 candidate for public office. 

19 (C) The individual or (in the case of the 

20 covered periods described in subparagraphs (A) 

21 and (B) of paragraph (3)) an immediate family 

22 member of the individual holds a position as a 

23 registered lobbyist under the Lobbying Disclo24 sure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) or an 

25 equivalent State or local law. 


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1 (D) The individual or (in the case of the 

2 covered periods described in subparagraphs (A) 

3 and (B) of paragraph (3)) an immediate family 

4 member of the individual is an employee of an 

5 elected public official, a contractor with the leg6 islature of the State, or a donor to the cam7 paign of any candidate for public office (other 

8 than a donor who gives an aggregate amount of 

9 less than $10,000 to the candidate with respect 

10 to the election). 

11 (3) COVERED PERIODS DESCRIBED.—In this 

12 subsection, the term ‘‘covered period’’ means, with 

13 respect to the appointment of an individual to the 

14 commission, any of the following: 

15 (A) The 3-year period ending on the date 

16 of the individual’s appointment. 

17 (B) The period in which the commission is 

18 carrying out its duties. 

19 (C) The 3-year period beginning on the 

20 date of the commission’s termination. 

21 (4) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.—In 

22 this subsection, the term ‘‘immediate family mem23 ber’’ means, with respect to an individual, a father, 

24 mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, 

25 wife, father-in-law, or mother-in-law. 


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1 (d) REMOVAL; VACANCIES.— 

2 (1) REMOVAL.—After having been served writ3 ten notice and provided with an opportunity for a re4 sponse, a member of the commission may be re5 moved by the Governor, with the concurrence of two6 thirds of the upper house of the State legislature 

7 (or, in the case of a State with a unicameral legisla8 ture, the legislature), for substantial neglect of duty, 

9 gross misconduct in office, or inability to discharge 

10 the duties of office. 

11 (2) VACANCY.—A vacancy in the commission 

12 shall be filled in the manner in which the original 

13 appointment was made. 

14 (e) PROCEDURES FOR CONDUCTING COMMISSION

15 BUSINESS.— 

16 (1) CHAIR.—Members of an independent redis17 tricting commission established under this subsection 

18 shall select by majority vote one member who was 

19 appointed from the final independent selection pool 

20 described in subsection (b)(4)(C) to serve as chair of 

21 the commission. The commission may not take any 

22 action to develop a redistricting plan for the State 

23 under section 5 until the appointment of the com24 mission’s chair. 


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1 (2) REQUIRING MAJORITY APPROVAL FOR AC2 TIONS.—The independent redistricting commission 

3 of a State may not publish and disseminate any 

4 draft or final redistricting plan, or take any other 

5 action, without the approval of at least a majority of 

6 its members given at a meeting at which at least a 

7 majority of its members are present. 

8 (3) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 

9 the commission shall constitute a quorum. 

10 (f) DEADLINE.—Each State shall establish a commis11 sion under this section not later than December 31 of each 

12 year in which a decennial census is conducted. 

13 (g) TERMINATION.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The independent redis15 tricting commission of a State shall terminate on the 

16 day after the date of the first regularly scheduled 

17 general election for Federal office which occurs after 

18 the chief executive of the State receives the State 

19 apportionment notice. 

20 (2) PRESERVATION OF RECORDS.—The State 

21 shall ensure that the records of the independent re22 districting commission are retained in the appro23 priate State archive in such manner as may be nec24 essary to enable the State to respond to any civil acVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:47 Aug 10, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2978.IH H2978

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1 tion brought with respect to Congressional redis2 tricting in the State. 

3 SEC. 5. DEVELOPMENT OF REDISTRICTING PLAN BY INDE4 PENDENT COMMISSION; PUBLIC NOTICE AND 

5 INPUT. 

6 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF REDISTRICTING PLAN.— 

7 (1) CRITERIA.—The independent redistricting 

8 commission of a State shall develop a redistricting 

9 plan for the State in accordance with the following 

10 criteria, prioritized according to the following order: 

11 (A) Districts shall each have equal popu12 lation per representative as nearly as prac13 ticable, in accordance with the Constitution of 

14 the United States. 

15 (B) Districts shall comply with the Voting 

16 Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.). 

17 (C) Districts shall be geographically con18 tiguous. 

19 (D) To the extent practicable, district 

20 boundaries shall minimize the division of any 

21 municipality, county, neighborhood, or commu22 nity of interest. For purposes of this subpara23 graph, a community of interest is a contiguous 

24 population which shares common social and eco25 nomic interests that should be included within 


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1 a single district for purposes of its effective and 

2 fair representation. Examples of such shared in3 terests are those common to an urban area, a 

4 rural area, an industrial area, or an agricultural 

5 area, and those common to areas in which the 

6 people share similar living standards, use the 

7 same transportation facilities, have similar work 

8 opportunities, or have access to the same media 

9 of communication relevant to the election proc10 ess. Communities of interest shall not include 

11 relationships with political parties, incumbent 

12 officeholders, or political candidates. 

13 (E) To the extent practicable, districts 

14 shall be geographically compact such that near15 by areas of population are not bypassed for 

16 more distant areas of population. 

17 (F) To the extent practicable, district lines 

18 shall use visible geographic features. 

19 (2) FACTORS PROHIBITED FROM CONSIDER20 ATION.—In developing the redistricting plan for the 

21 State, the independent redistricting commission may 

22 not take into consideration any of the following fac23 tors, except to the extent necessary to comply with 

24 the Voting Rights Act of 1965: 


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1 (A) The political party affiliation of the 

2 population of a district. 

3 (B) The residence of any Member of the 

4 House of Representatives or candidate. 

5 (b) PUBLIC NOTICE AND INPUT.— 

6 (1) USE OF OPEN AND TRANSPARENT PROC7 ESS.—The commission shall hold each of its meet8 ings in public, shall solicit and take into consider9 ation comments from the public throughout the 

10 process of developing the redistricting plan for the 

11 State, and shall carry out its duties in an open and 

12 transparent manner which provides for the widest 

13 public dissemination reasonably possible of its pro14 posed and final redistricting plans. 

15 (2) MINIMUM PUBLIC HEARINGS.—The commis16 sion shall hold, at a minimum, the following public 

17 hearings at which members of the public may pro18 vide input and comments: 

19 (A) A hearing held prior to the develop20 ment of draft redistricting plans under sub21 section (c)(1). 

22 (B) A hearing held upon the development 

23 and publication of such draft redistricting 

24 plans, at which the congressional district maps 


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1 provided under each such plan shall be dis2 played. 

3 (C) A hearing held upon the approval of 

4 the final redistricting plan under subsection 

5 (c)(2), at which the congressional district maps 

6 provided under such plan shall be displayed. 

7 (3) MINIMUM PERIOD FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

8 AFTER DISPLAY OF MAPS.—The commission shall 

9 accept and consider comments from the public with 

10 respect to congressional district maps displayed at 

11 any hearing described in paragraph (2) for not fewer 

12 than 30 days after the date of the hearing. 

13 (4) AVAILABILITY OF DATA AND SOFTWARE.— 

14 The commission shall make available to the public 

15 all of the demographic data used by the commission 

16 to develop the proposed redistricting plans, together 

17 with any software used to draw maps of proposed 

18 districts. 

19 (5) MEETINGS AND HEARINGS IN VARIOUS GEO20 GRAPHIC LOCATIONS.—To the greatest extent prac21 ticable, the commission shall hold its meetings and 

22 hearings in various geographic regions and locations 

23 throughout the State. 

24 (c) PROCESS FOR ENACTMENT OF FINAL REDIS25 TRICTING PLAN.— 


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1 (1) PUBLICATION OF DRAFT PLANS.—Not later 

2 than the first June 1 which occurs after the chief 

3 executive of the State receives the State apportion4 ment notice, the commission shall publish and dis5 seminate multiple draft redistricting plans. 

6 (2) PERIOD FOR CONSIDERATION OF PUBLIC

7 COMMENTS.—After publishing and disseminating the 

8 draft redistricting plans under paragraph (1), the 

9 commission shall solicit and take into consideration 

10 comments from the public on such draft plans dur11 ing a period of at least 60 days following the date 

12 on which such draft plans are published and dis13 seminated. 

14 (3) PUBLICATION OF FINAL PLAN.—After tak15 ing into consideration comments from the public on 

16 the draft redistricting plans, the commission shall 

17 publish and disseminate a final redistricting plan for 

18 the State, and shall vote on approving such final 

19 plan for enactment into law by not later than the 

20 first August 15 which occurs after the chief execu21 tive of the State receives the State apportionment 

22 notice. 

23 (4) ENACTMENT.—The final redistricting plan 

24 published and disseminated under paragraph (3) 

25 shall be deemed to be enacted into law if— 


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1 (A) the plan is approved by a majority of 

2 the whole membership of the commission; and 

3 (B) at least one member of the commission 

4 appointed from each of the final selection pools 

5 described in section 4(a)(1) approves the plan. 

6 SEC. 6. ENACTMENT OF PLAN DEVELOPED BY COURTS. 

7 (a) STATE COURT.— 

8 (1) DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN BY SPECIAL MAS9 TER.—If a redistricting plan developed by the inde10 pendent redistricting commission of a State is not 

11 enacted into law under section 5(c) by the first Au12 gust 31 which occurs after the chief executive of the 

13 State receives the State apportionment notice, the 

14 chief election official of the State shall petition the 

15 highest court of the State for an order directing the 

16 appointment of a special master to develop and 

17 present a redistricting plan to the court. 

18 (2) ENACTMENT.—If the highest court of the 

19 State approves a redistricting plan developed and 

20 presented by a special master under paragraph (1), 

21 the plan shall serve as the redistricting plan for the 

22 State, and shall be deemed to be enacted on the date 

23 on which the court approves the plan. 

24 (3) ADHERENCE TO CRITERIA APPLICABLE TO

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1 tricting plan under this subsection, the highest court 

2 of a State shall ensure that the plan meets the cri3 teria applicable under paragraphs (1) and (2) of sec4 tion 5(a) to plans developed by the independent re5 districting commission of the State. 

6 (b) FEDERAL COURT.— 

7 (1) FAILURE OF STATE COURT TO ENACT

8 PLAN.— 

9 (A) NOTICE TO COURT IF PLAN NOT SE10 LECTED BY STATE COURT.—If the chief election 

11 official of a State petitions the highest court of 

12 the State for an order under subsection (a) and 

13 the court does not approve a redistricting plan 

14 in accordance with such subsection by the first 

15 October 15 which occurs after the chief execu16 tive of the State receives the State apportion17 ment notice, the State shall file a notice with 

18 the United States district court for the district 

19 in which the capital of the State is located. 

20 (B) DEVELOPMENT AND SELECTION OF

21 PLAN BY FEDERAL COURT.—Not later than 45 

22 days after receiving a notice from a State under 

23 subparagraph (A), the court shall develop and 

24 publish a final redistricting plan for the State, 


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1 which shall be deemed to be enacted on the date 

2 on which the court publishes the plan. 

3 (2) FAILURE OF STATE TO ESTABLISH COMMIS4 SION.—If a State does not establish an independent 

5 redistricting commission under section 4 by the 

6 deadline set forth in section 4(f)— 

7 (A) the State may not establish the com8 mission; and 

9 (B) the United States district court for the 

10 district in which the capital of the State is lo11 cated shall develop and publish a final redis12 tricting plan for the State not later than the 

13 first November 30 which occurs after the chief 

14 executive of the State receives the State appor15 tionment notice. 

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

17 that, in developing a redistricting plan for a State 

18 under this subsection, the district court should ad19 here to the same terms and conditions that applied 

20 to the development of the plan of the commission 

21 under section 5(a). 

22 (c) ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND RECORDS OF

23 COMMISSION.—A court which is required to develop a re24 districting plan for a State under this section shall have 

25 access to any information, data, software, or other records 


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1 and material used by the independent redistricting com2 mission of the State in carrying out its duties under this 

3 Act. 

4 SEC. 7. SPECIAL RULE FOR REDISTRICTING CONDUCTED 

5 UNDER ORDER OF FEDERAL COURT. 

6 If a Federal court requires a State to conduct redis7 tricting subsequent to an apportionment of Representa8 tives in the State in order to comply with the Constitution 

9 or to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965, sections 5 

10 and 6 shall apply with respect to the redistricting, except 

11 that— 

12 (1) the independent redistricting commission 

13 shall be established and the commission’s chair shall 

14 be appointed prior to the expiration of the 60-day 

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

16 the Federal court to conduct the redistricting; 

17 (2) if the commission fails to enact into law a 

18 final redistricting plan in accordance with section 

19 5(c) prior to the expiration of the 150-day period 

20 which begins on the date of the final order of the 

21 Federal court to conduct the redistricting, the chief 

22 election official of the State shall petition the highest 

23 court of the State for an order directing the appoint24 ment of a special master to develop and present a 


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1 redistricting plan to the court in accordance with 

2 section 6(a); 

3 (3) if the chief election official of the State peti4 tions the highest court of the State for an order in 

5 accordance with section 6(a), the court shall approve 

6 a final redistricting plan in accordance with section 

7 6(a) prior to the expiration of the 180-day period 

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

9 Federal court to conduct the redistricting; and 

10 (4) if the highest court of the State fails to 

11 meet the requirements of paragraph (3), a district 

12 court of the United States shall develop and publish 

13 a final redistricting plan for the State in accordance 

14 with section 6(b) prior to the expiration of the 210- 

15 day period which begins on the date of the final 

16 order of the Federal court to conduct the redis17 tricting. 

18 SEC. 8. PAYMENTS TO STATES FOR CARRYING OUT REDIS19 TRICTING. 

20 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF PAYMENTS.—Subject to sub21 section (d), not later than 30 days after a State receives 

22 a State apportionment notice, the Election Assistance 

23 Commission shall make a payment to the State in an 

24 amount equal to the product of— 


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1 (1) the number of Representatives to which the 

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

3 (2) $150,000. 

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

5 made under this section to establish and operate the 

6 State’s independent redistricting commission, to imple7 ment the State redistricting plan, and to otherwise carry 

8 out Congressional redistricting in the State. 

9 (c) NO PAYMENT TO STATES WITH SINGLE MEM10 BER.—The Election Assistance Commission shall not 

11 make a payment under this section to any State which 

12 is not entitled to more than one Representative under its 

13 State apportionment notice. 

14 (d) REQUIRING ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION AS

15 CONDITION OF PAYMENT.—The Election Assistance Com16 mission may not make a payment to a State under this 

17 section until the State certifies to the Commission that 

18 the State has established an independent redistricting 

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

20 appointed, in accordance with section 4. 

21 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

22 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

23 necessary for payments under this section. 

24 SEC. 9. CIVIL ENFORCEMENT. 

25 (a) CIVIL ENFORCEMENT.— 


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1 (1) ACTIONS BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The At2 torney General may bring a civil action in an appro3 priate district court for such relief as may be appro4 priate to carry out this Act. 

5 (2) AVAILABILITY OF PRIVATE RIGHT OF AC6 TION.—Any elector of a State who is aggrieved by 

7 the failure of the State redistricting plan which is 

8 enacted into law under section 5(b)(3) to meet the 

9 requirements for such a plan under this Act may 

10 bring a civil action in an appropriate district court 

11 for such relief as may be appropriate to remedy the 

12 failure, so long as the elector brings the action dur13 ing the 45-day period which begins on the date on 

14 which the plan is enacted into law. 

15 (b) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION.—In any action 

16 brought for under this section, the following rules shall 

17 apply: 

18 (1) The action shall be filed in the appropriate 

19 United States district court and shall be heard by a 

20 3-judge court convened pursuant to section 2284 of 

21 title 28, United States Code. 

22 (2) The 3-judge court shall consolidate actions 

23 brought for relief under subsection (b)(1) with re24 spect to the same State redistricting plan. 


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1 (3) A copy of the complaint shall be delivered 

2 promptly to the Clerk of the House of Representa3 tives and the Secretary of the Senate. 

4 (4) A final decision in the action shall be re5 viewable only by appeal directly to the Supreme 

6 Court of the United States. Such appeal shall be 

7 taken by the filing of a notice of appeal within 10 

8 days, and the filing of a jurisdictional statement 

9 within 30 days, of the entry of the final decision. 

10 (5) It shall be the duty of the district court and 

11 the Supreme Court of the United States to advance 

12 on the docket and to expedite to the greatest pos13 sible extent the disposition of the action and appeal. 

14 (c) LOCATION OF COURT.—For purposes of an action 

15 under this section, the appropriate district court shall be 

16 the district court of the United States for the district 

17 which includes the capital of the State involved. 

18 (d) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—In a civil action under this 

19 section, the court may allow the prevailing party (other 

20 than the United States) reasonable attorney fees, includ21 ing litigation expenses, and costs. 

22 (e) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.— 

23 (1) RIGHTS AND REMEDIES ADDITIONAL TO

24 OTHER RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.—The rights and 

25 remedies established by this section are in addition 


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1 to all other rights and remedies provided by law, and 

2 neither the rights and remedies established by this 

3 section nor any other provision of this Act shall su4 persede, restrict, or limit the application of the Vot5 ing Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.). 

6 (2) VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965.—Nothing in 

7 this Act authorizes or requires conduct that is pro8 hibited by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 

9 1973 et seq.). 

10 SEC. 10. STATE APPORTIONMENT NOTICE DEFINED. 

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

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

13 the Clerk of the House of Representatives under section 

14 22(b) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the fif15 teenth and subsequent decennial censuses and to provide 

16 for an apportionment of Representatives in Congress’’, ap17 proved June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a), of the number of 

18 Representatives to which the State is entitled. 

19 SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

20 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

21 apply with respect to redistricting carried out pursuant to 

22 the decennial census conducted during 2020 or any suc23 ceeding decennial census. 

Æ 


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