II 

Calendar No. 119 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2670 

To provide for redistricting reform, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 6 (legislative day, AUGUST 5), 2021 

Mr. SCHUMER introduced the following bill; which was read the first time 

AUGUST 7, 2021 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

A BILL 

To provide for redistricting reform, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Redistricting Reform 

5 Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY. 

7 Congress finds that it has the authority to establish 

8 the terms and conditions States must follow in carrying 


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1 out congressional redistricting after an apportionment of 

2 Members of the House of Representatives 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 14th amendment to the Constitution 

10 gives Congress the power to enact laws to enforce 

11 section 2 of such amendment, which requires Rep12 resentatives to be apportioned among the several 

13 States according to their number. 

14 TITLE I—REQUIREMENTS FOR 

15 CONGRESSIONAL REDIS16 TRICTING 

17 SEC. 101. REQUIRING CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING TO 

18 BE CONDUCTED THROUGH PLAN OF INDE19 PENDENT STATE COMMISSION. 

20 (a) USE OF PLAN REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding any 

21 other provision of law, and except as provided in sub22 section (c), any congressional redistricting conducted by 

23 a State shall be conducted in accordance with— 

24 (1) the redistricting plan developed and enacted 

25 into law by the independent redistricting commission 


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1 established in the State, in accordance with title II; 

2 or 

3 (2) if a plan developed by such commission is 

4 not enacted into law, the redistricting plan developed 

5 and enacted into law by a 3-judge court, in accord6 ance with section 301. 

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

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

9 subsequent decennial censuses and to provide for appor10 tionment of Representatives in Congress’’, approved June 

11 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a(c)), is amended by striking ‘‘in the 

12 manner provided by the law thereof’’ and inserting ‘‘in the 

13 manner provided by the Redistricting Reform Act of 

14 2021’’. 

15 (c) SPECIAL RULE FOR EXISTING COMMISSIONS.— 

16 Subsection (a) does not apply to any State in which, under 

17 law in effect continuously on and after the date of the 

18 enactment of this Act, congressional redistricting is car19 ried out in accordance with a plan developed and approved 

20 by an independent redistricting commission that is in com21 pliance with each of the following requirements: 

22 (1) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE APPLICATION PROC23 ESS.—Membership on the commission is open to citi24 zens of the State through a publicly available appli25 cation process. 


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1 (2) DISQUALIFICATIONS FOR GOVERNMENT

2 SERVICE AND POLITICAL APPOINTMENT.—Individ3 uals who, for a covered period of time as established 

4 by the State, hold or have held public office, individ5 uals who are or have been candidates for elected 

6 public office, and individuals who serve or have 

7 served as an officer, employee, or paid consultant of 

8 a campaign committee of a candidate for public of9 fice are disqualified from serving on the commission. 

10 (3) SCREENING FOR CONFLICTS.—Individuals 

11 who apply to serve on the commission are screened 

12 through a process that excludes persons with con13 flicts of interest from the pool of potential commis14 sioners. 

15 (4) MULTI-PARTISAN COMPOSITION.—Member16 ship on the commission represents those who are af17 filiated with the 2 political parties whose candidates 

18 received the most votes in the most recent statewide 

19 election for Federal office held in the State, as well 

20 as those who are unaffiliated with any party or who 

21 are affiliated with political parties other than the 2 

22 political parties whose candidates received the most 

23 votes in the most recent statewide election for Fed24 eral office held in the State. 


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1 (5) CRITERIA FOR REDISTRICTING.—Members 

2 of the commission are required to meet certain cri3 teria in the map drawing process, including mini4 mizing the division of communities of interest and a 

5 ban on drawing maps to favor a political party. 

6 (6) PUBLIC INPUT.—Public hearings are held 

7 and comments from the public are accepted before 

8 a final map is approved. 

9 (7) BROAD-BASED SUPPORT FOR APPROVAL OF

10 FINAL PLAN.—The approval of the final redistricting 

11 plan requires a majority vote of the members of the 

12 commission, including the support of at least one 

13 member of each of the following: 

14 (A) Members who are affiliated with the 

15 political party whose candidate received the 

16 most votes in the most recent statewide election 

17 for Federal office held in the State. 

18 (B) Members who are affiliated with the 

19 political party whose candidate received the sec20 ond most votes in the most recent statewide 

21 election for Federal office held in the State. 

22 (C) Members who are not affiliated with 

23 any political party or who are affiliated with po24 litical parties other than the political parties de25 scribed in subparagraphs (A) and (B). 


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1 (d) TREATMENT OF STATE OF IOWA.—Subsection (a) 

2 does not apply to the State of Iowa, so long as congres3 sional redistricting in such State is carried out in accord4 ance with a plan developed by the Iowa Legislative Serv5 ices Agency with the assistance of a Temporary Redis6 tricting Advisory Commission, under law which was in ef7 fect for the most recent congressional redistricting carried 

8 out in the State prior to the date of the enactment of this 

9 Act and which remains in effect continuously on and after 

10 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

11 SEC. 102. BAN ON MID-DECADE REDISTRICTING. 

12 A State that has been redistricted in accordance with 

13 this Act and a State described in section 101(c) may not 

14 be redistricted again until after the next apportionment 

15 of Representatives under section 22(a) of the Act entitled 

16 ‘‘An Act to provide for the fifteenth and subsequent decen17 nial censuses and to provide for an apportionment of Rep18 resentatives in Congress’’, approved June 18, 1929 (2 

19 U.S.C. 2a), unless a court requires the State to conduct 

20 such subsequent redistricting to comply with the Constitu21 tion of the United States, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 

22 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.), the Constitution of the State, 

23 or the terms or conditions of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 103. CRITERIA FOR REDISTRICTING. 

2 (a) CRITERIA.—Under the redistricting plan of a 

3 State, there shall be established single-member congres4 sional districts using the following criteria as set forth in 

5 the following order of priority: 

6 (1) Districts shall comply with the United 

7 States Constitution, including the requirement that 

8 they equalize total population. 

9 (2) Districts shall comply with the Voting 

10 Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.), in11 cluding by creating any districts where two or more 

12 politically cohesive groups protected by such Act are 

13 able to elect representatives of choice in coalition 

14 with one another, and all applicable Federal laws. 

15 (3) Districts shall be drawn, to the extent that 

16 the totality of the circumstances warrant, to ensure 

17 the practical ability of a group protected under the 

18 Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et 

19 seq.) to participate in the political process and to 

20 nominate candidates and to elect representatives of 

21 choice is not diluted or diminished, regardless of 

22 whether or not such protected group constitutes a 

23 majority of a district’s citizen voting age population. 

24 (4) Districts shall respect communities of inter25 est, neighborhoods, and political subdivisions to the 

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1 quirements of paragraphs (1) through (3). A com2 munity of interest is defined as an area with recog3 nized similarities of interests, including ethnic, ra4 cial, economic, tribal, social, cultural, geographic or 

5 historic identities. The term communities of interest 

6 may, in certain circumstances, include political sub7 divisions such as counties, municipalities, tribal 

8 lands and reservations, or school districts, but shall 

9 not include common relationships with political par10 ties or political candidates. 

11 (b) NO FAVORING OR DISFAVORING OF POLITICAL

12 PARTIES.— 

13 (1) PROHIBITION.—The redistricting plan en14 acted by a State shall not, when considered on a 

15 Statewide basis, be drawn with the intent or the ef16 fect of unduly favoring or disfavoring any political 

17 party. 

18 (2) DETERMINATION OF EFFECT.— 

19 (A) TOTALITY OF CIRCUMSTANCES.—For 

20 purposes of paragraph (1), the determination of 

21 whether a redistricting plan has the effect of 

22 unduly favoring or disfavoring a political party 

23 shall be based on the totality of circumstances, 

24 including evidence regarding the durability and 

25 severity of a plan’s partisan bias. 


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1 (B) PLANS DEEMED TO HAVE EFFECT OF

2 UNDULY FAVORING OR DISFAVORING A POLIT3 ICAL PARTY.—Without limiting other ways in 

4 which a redistricting plan may be determined to 

5 have the effect of unduly favoring or disfavoring 

6 a political party under the totality of cir7 cumstances under subparagraph (A), a redis8 tricting plan shall be deemed to have the effect 

9 of unduly favoring or disfavoring a political 

10 party if— 

11 (i) modeling based on relevant histor12 ical voting patterns shows that the plan is 

13 statistically likely to result in a partisan 

14 bias of more than one seat in States with 

15 20 or fewer congressional districts or a 

16 partisan bias of more than 2 seats in 

17 States with more than 20 congressional 

18 districts, as determined using quantitative 

19 measures of partisan fairness, which may 

20 include, but are not limited to, the seats21 to-votes curve for an enacted plan, the effi22 ciency gap, the declination, partisan asym23 metry, and the mean-median difference; 

24 and 


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1 (ii) alternative plans, which may in2 clude, but are not limited to, those gen3 erated by redistricting algorithms, exist 

4 that could have complied with the require5 ments of law and not been in violation of 

6 paragraph (1). 

7 (3) DETERMINATION OF INTENT.—For pur8 poses of paragraph (1), a rebuttable presumption 

9 shall exist that a redistricting plan enacted by the 

10 legislature of a State was not enacted with the in11 tent of unduly favoring or disfavoring a political 

12 party if the plan was enacted with the support of at 

13 least a third of the members of the second largest 

14 political party in each house of the legislature. 

15 (4) NO VIOLATION BASED ON CERTAIN CRI16 TERIA.—No redistricting plan shall be found to be 

17 in violation of paragraph (1) because of partisan 

18 bias attributable to the application of the criteria set 

19 forth in paragraphs (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (a), 

20 unless one or more alternative plans could have com21 plied with such paragraphs without having the effect 

22 of unduly favoring or disfavoring a political party. 

23 (c) FACTORS PROHIBITED FROM CONSIDERATION.— 

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1 sideration any of the following factors, except as necessary 

2 to comply with the criteria described in paragraphs (1) 

3 through (3) of subsection (a), to achieve partisan fairness 

4 and comply with subsection (b), and to enable the redis5 tricting plan to be measured against the external metrics 

6 described in section 203(d): 

7 (1) The residence of any Member of the House 

8 of Representatives or candidate. 

9 (2) The political party affiliation or voting his10 tory of the population of a district. 

11 (d) APPLICABILITY.—This section applies to any au12 thority, whether appointed, elected, judicial, or otherwise, 

13 that designs or enacts a congressional redistricting plan 

14 of a State. 

15 (e) SEVERABILITY OF CRITERIA.—If any of the cri16 teria set forth in this section, or the application of such 

17 criteria to any person or circumstance, is held to be uncon18 stitutional, the remaining criteria set forth in this section, 

19 and the application of such criteria to any person or cir20 cumstance, shall not be affected by the holding. 

21 TITLE II—INDEPENDENT 

22 REDISTRICTING COMMISSIONS 

23 SEC. 201. INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSION. 

24 (a) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The nonpartisan agency es2 tablished or designated by a State under section 

3 204(a) shall establish an independent redistricting 

4 commission for the State, which shall consist of 15 

5 members appointed by the agency as follows: 

6 (A) Not later than October 1 of a year 

7 ending in the numeral zero, the agency shall, at 

8 a public meeting held not earlier than 15 days 

9 after notice of the meeting has been given to 

10 the public, first appoint 6 members as follows: 

11 (i) The agency shall appoint 2 mem12 bers on a random basis from the majority 

13 category of the approved selection pool (as 

14 described in section 202(b)(1)(A)). 

15 (ii) The agency shall appoint 2 mem16 bers on a random basis from the minority 

17 category of the approved selection pool (as 

18 described in section 202(b)(1)(B)). 

19 (iii) The agency shall appoint 2 mem20 bers on a random basis from the inde21 pendent category of the approved selection 

22 pool (as described in section 202(b)(1)(C)). 

23 (B) Not later than November 15 of a year 

24 ending in the numeral zero, the members ap25 pointed by the agency under subparagraph (A) 


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1 shall, at a public meeting held not earlier than 

2 15 days after notice of the meeting has been 

3 given to the public, then appoint 9 members as 

4 follows: 

5 (i) The members shall appoint 3 mem6 bers from the majority category of the ap7 proved selection pool (as described in sec8 tion 202(b)(1)(A)). 

9 (ii) The members shall appoint 3 

10 members from the minority category of the 

11 approved selection pool (as described in 

12 section 202(b)(1)(B)). 

13 (iii) The members shall appoint 3 

14 members from the independent category of 

15 the approved selection pool (as described in 

16 section 202(b)(1)(C)). 

17 (2) RULES FOR APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS

18 APPOINTED BY FIRST MEMBERS.— 

19 (A) AFFIRMATIVE VOTE OF AT LEAST 4

20 MEMBERS.—The appointment of any of the 9 

21 members of the independent redistricting com22 mission who are appointed by the first members 

23 of the commission pursuant to subparagraph 

24 (B) of paragraph (1), as well as the designation 

25 of alternates for such members pursuant to 


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1 subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3) and the ap2 pointment of alternates to fill vacancies pursu3 ant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (4), shall 

4 require the affirmative vote of at least 4 of the 

5 members appointed by the nonpartisan agency 

6 under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1), in7 cluding at least one member from each of the 

8 categories referred to in such subparagraph. 

9 (B) ENSURING DIVERSITY.—In appointing 

10 the 9 members pursuant to subparagraph (B) 

11 of paragraph (1), as well as in designating al12 ternates pursuant to subparagraph (B) of para13 graph (3) and in appointing alternates to fill 

14 vacancies pursuant to subparagraph (B) of 

15 paragraph (4), the first members of the inde16 pendent redistricting commission shall ensure 

17 that the membership is representative of the de18 mographic groups (including racial, ethnic, eco19 nomic, and gender) and geographic regions of 

20 the State, and provides racial, ethnic, and lan21 guage minorities protected under the Voting 

22 Rights Act of 1965 with a meaningful oppor23 tunity to participate in the development of the 

24 State’s redistricting plan. 


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1 (3) DESIGNATION OF ALTERNATES TO SERVE

2 IN CASE OF VACANCIES.— 

3 (A) MEMBERS APPOINTED BY AGENCY.— 

4 At the time the agency appoints the members 

5 of the independent redistricting commission 

6 under subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1) from 

7 each of the categories referred to in such sub8 paragraph, the agency shall, on a random basis, 

9 designate 2 other individuals from such cat10 egory to serve as alternate members who may 

11 be appointed to fill vacancies in the commission 

12 in accordance with paragraph (4). 

13 (B) MEMBERS APPOINTED BY FIRST MEM14 BERS.—At the time the members appointed by 

15 the agency appoint the other members of the 

16 independent redistricting commission under 

17 subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) from each 

18 of the categories referred to in such subpara19 graph, the members shall, in accordance with 

20 the special rules described in paragraph (2), 

21 designate 2 other individuals from such cat22 egory to serve as alternate members who may 

23 be appointed to fill vacancies in the commission 

24 in accordance with paragraph (4). 


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1 (4) APPOINTMENT OF ALTERNATES TO SERVE

2 IN CASE OF VACANCIES.— 

3 (A) MEMBERS APPOINTED BY AGENCY.—If 

4 a vacancy occurs in the commission with respect 

5 to a member who was appointed by the non6 partisan agency under subparagraph (A) of 

7 paragraph (1) from one of the categories re8 ferred to in such subparagraph, the agency 

9 shall fill the vacancy by appointing, on a ran10 dom basis, one of the 2 alternates from such 

11 category who was designated under subpara12 graph (A) of paragraph (3). At the time the 

13 agency appoints an alternate to fill a vacancy 

14 under the previous sentence, the agency shall 

15 designate, on a random basis, another indi16 vidual from the same category to serve as an al17 ternate member, in accordance with subpara18 graph (A) of paragraph (3). 

19 (B) MEMBERS APPOINTED BY FIRST MEM20 BERS.—If a vacancy occurs in the commission 

21 with respect to a member who was appointed by 

22 the first members of the commission under sub23 paragraph (B) of paragraph (1) from one of the 

24 categories referred to in such subparagraph, the 

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1 cial rules described in paragraph (2), fill the va2 cancy by appointing one of the 2 alternates 

3 from such category who was designated under 

4 subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3). At the time 

5 the first members appoint an alternate to fill a 

6 vacancy under the previous sentence, the first 

7 members shall, in accordance with the special 

8 rules described in paragraph (2), designate an9 other individual from the same category to 

10 serve as an alternate member, in accordance 

11 with subparagraph (B) of paragraph (3). 

12 (5) REMOVAL.—A member of the independent 

13 redistricting commission may be removed by a ma14 jority vote of the remaining members of the commis15 sion if it is shown by a preponderance of the evi16 dence that the member is not eligible to serve on the 

17 commission under section 202(a). 

18 (b) PROCEDURES FOR CONDUCTING COMMISSION

19 BUSINESS.— 

20 (1) CHAIR.—Members of an independent redis21 tricting commission established under this section 

22 shall select by majority vote one member who was 

23 appointed from the independent category of the ap24 proved selection pool described in section 

25 202(b)(1)(C) to serve as chair of the commission. 


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1 The commission may not take any action to develop 

2 a redistricting plan for the State under section 203 

3 until the appointment of the commission’s chair. 

4 (2) REQUIRING MAJORITY APPROVAL FOR AC5 TIONS.—The independent redistricting commission 

6 of a State may not publish and disseminate any 

7 draft or final redistricting plan, or take any other 

8 action, without the approval of at least— 

9 (A) a majority of the whole membership of 

10 the commission; and 

11 (B) at least one member of the commission 

12 appointed from each of the categories of the ap13 proved selection pool described in section 

14 202(b)(1). 

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

16 the commission shall constitute a quorum. 

17 (c) STAFF; CONTRACTORS.— 

18 (1) STAFF.—Under a public application process 

19 in which all application materials are available for 

20 public inspection, the independent redistricting com21 mission of a State shall appoint and set the pay of 

22 technical experts, legal counsel, consultants, and 

23 such other staff as it considers appropriate, subject 

24 to State law. 


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1 (2) CONTRACTORS.—The independent redis2 tricting commission of a State may enter into such 

3 contracts with vendors as it considers appropriate, 

4 subject to State law, except that any such contract 

5 shall be valid only if approved by the vote of a ma6 jority of the members of the commission, including 

7 at least one member appointed from each of the cat8 egories of the approved selection pool described in 

9 section 202(b)(1). 

10 (3) REPORTS ON EXPENDITURES FOR POLIT11 ICAL ACTIVITY.— 

12 (A) REPORT BY APPLICANTS.—Each indi13 vidual who applies for a position as an employee 

14 of the independent redistricting commission and 

15 each vendor who applies for a contract with the 

16 commission shall, at the time of applying, file 

17 with the commission a report summarizing— 

18 (i) any expenditure for political activ19 ity made by such individual or vendor dur20 ing the 10 most recent calendar years; and 

21 (ii) any income received by such indi22 vidual or vendor during the 10 most recent 

23 calendar years which is attributable to an 

24 expenditure for political activity. 


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1 (B) ANNUAL REPORTS BY EMPLOYEES

2 AND VENDORS.—Each person who is an em3 ployee or vendor of the independent redis4 tricting commission shall, not later than one 

5 year after the person is appointed as an em6 ployee or enters into a contract as a vendor (as 

7 the case may be) and annually thereafter for 

8 each year during which the person serves as an 

9 employee or a vendor, file with the commission 

10 a report summarizing the expenditures and in11 come described in subparagraph (A) during the 

12 10 most recent calendar years. 

13 (C) EXPENDITURE FOR POLITICAL ACTIV14 ITY DEFINED.—In this paragraph, the term 

15 ‘‘expenditure for political activity’’ means a dis16 bursement for any of the following: 

17 (i) An independent expenditure, as de18 fined in section 301(17) of the Federal 

19 Election Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 

20 30101(17)). 

21 (ii) An electioneering communication, 

22 as defined in section 304(f)(3) of such Act 

23 (52 U.S.C. 30104(f)(3)) or any other pub24 lic communication, as defined in section 

25 301(22) of such Act (52 U.S.C. 


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1 30101(22)) that would be an electioneering 

2 communication if it were a broadcast, 

3 cable, or satellite communication. 

4 (iii) Any dues or other payments to 

5 trade associations or organizations de6 scribed in section 501(c) of the Internal 

7 Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from 

8 tax under section 501(a) of such Code that 

9 are, or could reasonably be anticipated to 

10 be, used or transferred to another associa11 tion or organization for a use described in 

12 paragraph (1), (2), or (4) of section 501(c) 

13 of such Code. 

14 (4) GOAL OF IMPARTIALITY.—The commission 

15 shall take such steps as it considers appropriate to 

16 ensure that any staff appointed under this sub17 section, and any vendor with whom the commission 

18 enters into a contract under this subsection, will 

19 work in an impartial manner, and may require any 

20 person who applies for an appointment to a staff po21 sition or for a vendor’s contract with the commission 

22 to provide information on the person’s history of po23 litical activity beyond the information on the per24 son’s expenditures for political activity provided in 

25 the reports required under paragraph (3) (including 


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1 donations to candidates, political committees, and 

2 political parties) as a condition of the appointment 

3 or the contract. 

4 (5) DISQUALIFICATION; WAIVER.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The independent redis6 tricting commission may not appoint an indi7 vidual as an employee, and may not enter into 

8 a contract with a vendor, if the individual or 

9 vendor meets any of the criteria for the dis10 qualification of an individual from serving as a 

11 member of the commission which are set forth 

12 in section 202(a)(2). 

13 (B) WAIVER.—The commission may by 

14 unanimous vote of its members waive the appli15 cation of subparagraph (A) to an individual or 

16 a vendor after receiving and reviewing the re17 port filed by the individual or vendor under 

18 paragraph (3). 

19 (d) TERMINATION.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The independent redis21 tricting commission of a State shall terminate on the 

22 earlier of— 

23 (A) June 14 of the next year ending in the 

24 numeral zero; or 


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1 (B) the day on which the nonpartisan 

2 agency established or designated by a State 

3 under section 204(a) has, in accordance with 

4 section 202(b)(1), submitted a selection pool to 

5 the Select Committee on Redistricting for the 

6 State established under section 204(b). 

7 (2) PRESERVATION OF RECORDS.—The State 

8 shall ensure that the records of the independent re9 districting commission are retained in the appro10 priate State archive in such manner as may be nec11 essary to enable the State to respond to any civil ac12 tion brought with respect to congressional redis13 tricting in the State. 

14 SEC. 202. ESTABLISHMENT OF SELECTION POOL OF INDI15 VIDUALS ELIGIBLE TO SERVE AS MEMBERS 

16 OF COMMISSION. 

17 (a) CRITERIA FOR ELIGIBILITY.— 

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

19 serve as a member of an independent redistricting 

20 commission if the individual meets each of the fol21 lowing criteria: 

22 (A) As of the date of appointment, the in23 dividual is registered to vote in elections for 

24 Federal office held in the State. 


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1 (B) During the 3-year period ending on 

2 the date of the individual’s appointment, the in3 dividual has been continuously registered to 

4 vote with the same political party, or has not 

5 been registered to vote with any political party. 

6 (C) The individual submits to the non7 partisan agency established or designated by a 

8 State under section 204, at such time and in 

9 such form as the agency may require, an appli10 cation for inclusion in the selection pool under 

11 this section, and includes with the application a 

12 written statement, with an attestation under 

13 penalty of perjury, containing the following in14 formation and assurances: 

15 (i) The full current name and any 

16 former names of, and the contact informa17 tion for, the individual, including an elec18 tronic mail address, the address of the in19 dividual’s residence, mailing address, and 

20 telephone numbers. 

21 (ii) The individual’s race, ethnicity, 

22 gender, age, date of birth, and household 

23 income for the most recent taxable year. 

24 (iii) The political party with which the 

25 individual is affiliated, if any. 


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1 (iv) The reason or reasons the indi2 vidual desires to serve on the independent 

3 redistricting commission, the individual’s 

4 qualifications, and information relevant to 

5 the ability of the individual to be fair and 

6 impartial, including— 

7 (I) any involvement with, or fi8 nancial support of, professional, so9 cial, political, religious, or community 

10 organizations or causes; and 

11 (II) the individual’s employment 

12 and educational history. 

13 (v) An assurance that the individual 

14 shall commit to carrying out the individ15 ual’s duties under this Act in an honest, 

16 independent, and impartial fashion, and to 

17 upholding public confidence in the integrity 

18 of the redistricting process. 

19 (vi) An assurance that, during the 

20 covered periods described in paragraph (3), 

21 the individual has not taken and will not 

22 take any action which would disqualify the 

23 individual from serving as a member of the 

24 commission under paragraph (2). 


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1 (2) DISQUALIFICATIONS.—An individual is not 

2 eligible to serve as a member of the commission if 

3 any of the following applies during any of the cov4 ered periods described in paragraph (3): 

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

6 covered periods described in subparagraphs (A) 

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

8 member of the individual holds public office or 

9 is a candidate for election for public office. 

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

11 covered periods described in subparagraphs (A) 

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

13 member of the individual serves as an officer of 

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

15 paid consultant of a campaign committee of a 

16 candidate for public office or of any political ac17 tion committee (as determined in accordance 

18 with the law of the State). 

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 gov6 ernment of the State, or a donor to the cam7 paign of any candidate for public office or to 

8 any political action committee (other than a 

9 donor who, during any of such covered periods, 

10 gives an aggregate amount of $1,000 or less to 

11 the campaigns of all candidates for all public 

12 offices and to all political action committees). 

13 (E) The individual paid a civil money pen14 alty or criminal fine, or was sentenced to a 

15 term of imprisonment, for violating any provi16 sion of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

17 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.). 

18 (F) The individual or (in the case of the 

19 covered periods described in subparagraphs (A) 

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

21 member of the individual is an agent of a for22 eign principal under the Foreign Agents Reg23 istration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.). 

24 (3) COVERED PERIODS DESCRIBED.—In this 

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


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1 respect to the appointment of an individual to the 

2 commission, any of the following: 

3 (A) The 10-year period ending on the date 

4 of the individual’s appointment. 

5 (B) The period beginning on the date of 

6 the individual’s appointment and ending on Au7 gust 14 of the next year ending in the numeral 

8 one. 

9 (C) The 10-year period beginning on the 

10 day after the last day of the period described in 

11 subparagraph (B). 

12 (4) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.—In 

13 this subsection, the term ‘‘immediate family mem14 ber’’ means, with respect to an individual, a father, 

15 stepfather, mother, stepmother, son, stepson, daugh16 ter, stepdaughter, brother, stepbrother, sister, step17 sister, husband, wife, father-in-law, or mother-in18 law. 

19 (b) DEVELOPMENT AND SUBMISSION OF SELECTION

20 POOL.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than June 15 of 

22 each year ending in the numeral zero, the non23 partisan agency established or designated by a State 

24 under section 204(a) shall develop and submit to the 

25 Select Committee on Redistricting for the State esVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:36 Aug 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00028 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2670.PCS S2670

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1 tablished under section 204(b) a selection pool of 36 

2 individuals who are eligible to serve as members of 

3 the independent redistricting commission of the 

4 State under this Act, consisting of individuals in the 

5 following categories: 

6 (A) A majority category, consisting of 12 

7 individuals who are affiliated with the political 

8 party whose candidate received the most votes 

9 in the most recent statewide election for Fed10 eral office held in the State. 

11 (B) A minority category, consisting of 12 

12 individuals who are affiliated with the political 

13 party whose candidate received the second most 

14 votes in the most recent statewide election for 

15 Federal office held in the State. 

16 (C) An independent category, consisting of 

17 12 individuals who are not affiliated with either 

18 of the political parties described in subpara19 graph (A) or subparagraph (B). 

20 (2) FACTORS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN DEVEL21 OPING POOL.—In selecting individuals for the selec22 tion pool under this subsection, the nonpartisan 

23 agency shall— 

24 (A) ensure that the pool is representative 

25 of the demographic groups (including racial, 


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1 ethnic, economic, and gender) and geographic 

2 regions of the State, and includes applicants 

3 who would allow racial, ethnic, and language 

4 minorities protected under the Voting Rights 

5 Act of 1965 a meaningful opportunity to par6 ticipate in the development of the State’s redis7 tricting plan; and 

8 (B) take into consideration the analytical 

9 skills of the individuals selected in relevant 

10 fields (including mapping, data management, 

11 law, community outreach, demography, and the 

12 geography of the State) and their ability to 

13 work on an impartial basis. 

14 (3) INTERVIEWS OF APPLICANTS.—To assist 

15 the nonpartisan agency in developing the selection 

16 pool under this subsection, the nonpartisan agency 

17 shall conduct interviews of applicants under oath. If 

18 an individual is included in a selection pool devel19 oped under this section, all of the interviews of the 

20 individual shall be transcribed and the transcriptions 

21 made available on the nonpartisan agency’s website 

22 contemporaneously with release of the report under 

23 paragraph (6). 

24 (4) DETERMINATION OF POLITICAL PARTY AF25 FILIATION OF INDIVIDUALS IN SELECTION POOL.— 


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1 For purposes of this section, an individual shall be 

2 considered to be affiliated with a political party only 

3 if the nonpartisan agency is able to verify (to the 

4 greatest extent possible) the information the indi5 vidual provides in the application submitted under 

6 subsection (a)(1)(C), including by considering addi7 tional information provided by other persons with 

8 knowledge of the individual’s history of political ac9 tivity. 

10 (5) ENCOURAGING RESIDENTS TO APPLY FOR

11 INCLUSION IN POOL.—The nonpartisan agency shall 

12 take such steps as may be necessary to ensure that 

13 residents of the State across various geographic re14 gions and demographic groups are aware of the op15 portunity to serve on the independent redistricting 

16 commission, including publicizing the role of the 

17 panel and using newspapers, broadcast media, and 

18 online sources, including ethnic media, to encourage 

19 individuals to apply for inclusion in the selection 

20 pool developed under this subsection. 

21 (6) REPORT ON ESTABLISHMENT OF SELEC22 TION POOL.—At the time the nonpartisan agency 

23 submits the selection pool to the Select Committee 

24 on Redistricting under paragraph (1), it shall pub25 lish and post on the agency’s public website a report 


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1 describing the process by which the pool was devel2 oped, and shall include in the report a description of 

3 how the individuals in the pool meet the eligibility 

4 criteria of subsection (a) and of how the pool reflects 

5 the factors the agency is required to take into con6 sideration under paragraph (2). 

7 (7) PUBLIC COMMENT ON SELECTION POOL.— 

8 During the 14-day period which begins on the date 

9 the nonpartisan agency publishes the report under 

10 paragraph (6), the agency shall accept comments 

11 from the public on the individuals included in the se12 lection pool. The agency shall post all such com13 ments contemporaneously on the nonpartisan agen14 cy’s website and shall transmit them to the Select 

15 Committee on Redistricting immediately upon the 

16 expiration of such period. 

17 (8) ACTION BY SELECT COMMITTEE.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not earlier than 15 

19 days and not later than 21 days after receiving 

20 the selection pool from the nonpartisan agency 

21 under paragraph (1), the Select Committee on 

22 Redistricting shall, by majority vote— 

23 (i) approve the pool as submitted by 

24 the nonpartisan agency, in which case the 

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1 tion pool for purposes of section 201(a)(1); 

2 or 

3 (ii) reject the pool, in which case the 

4 nonpartisan agency shall develop and sub5 mit a replacement selection pool in accord6 ance with subsection (c). 

7 (B) INACTION DEEMED REJECTION.—If 

8 the Select Committee on Redistricting fails to 

9 approve or reject the pool within the deadline 

10 set forth in subparagraph (A), the Select Com11 mittee shall be deemed to have rejected the pool 

12 for purposes of such subparagraph. 

13 (c) DEVELOPMENT OF REPLACEMENT SELECTION

14 POOL.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Select Committee on 

16 Redistricting rejects the selection pool submitted by 

17 the nonpartisan agency under subsection (b), not 

18 later than 14 days after the rejection, the non19 partisan agency shall develop and submit to the Se20 lect Committee a replacement selection pool, under 

21 the same terms and conditions that applied to the 

22 development and submission of the selection pool 

23 under paragraphs (1) through (7) of subsection (b). 

24 The replacement pool submitted under this para25 graph may include individuals who were included in 


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1 the rejected selection pool submitted under sub2 section (b), so long as at least one of the individuals 

3 in the replacement pool was not included in such re4 jected pool. 

5 (2) ACTION BY SELECT COMMITTEE.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 21 days 

7 after receiving the replacement selection pool 

8 from the nonpartisan agency under paragraph 

9 (1), the Select Committee on Redistricting 

10 shall, by majority vote— 

11 (i) approve the pool as submitted by 

12 the nonpartisan agency, in which case the 

13 pool shall be considered the approved selec14 tion pool for purposes of section 201(a)(1); 

15 or 

16 (ii) reject the pool, in which case the 

17 nonpartisan agency shall develop and sub18 mit a second replacement selection pool in 

19 accordance with subsection (d). 

20 (B) INACTION DEEMED REJECTION.—If 

21 the Select Committee on Redistricting fails to 

22 approve or reject the pool within the deadline 

23 set forth in subparagraph (A), the Select Com24 mittee shall be deemed to have rejected the pool 

25 for purposes of such subparagraph. 


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1 (d) DEVELOPMENT OF SECOND REPLACEMENT SE2 LECTION POOL.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—If the Select Committee on 

4 Redistricting rejects the replacement selection pool 

5 submitted by the nonpartisan agency under sub6 section (c), not later than 14 days after the rejec7 tion, the nonpartisan agency shall develop and sub8 mit to the Select Committee a second replacement 

9 selection pool, under the same terms and conditions 

10 that applied to the development and submission of 

11 the selection pool under paragraphs (1) through (7) 

12 of subsection (b). The second replacement selection 

13 pool submitted under this paragraph may include in14 dividuals who were included in the rejected selection 

15 pool submitted under subsection (b) or the rejected 

16 replacement selection pool submitted under sub17 section (c), so long as at least one of the individuals 

18 in the replacement pool was not included in either 

19 such rejected pool. 

20 (2) ACTION BY SELECT COMMITTEE.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not earlier than 15 

22 days and not later than 14 days after receiving 

23 the second replacement selection pool from the 

24 nonpartisan agency under paragraph (1), the 


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1 Select Committee on Redistricting shall, by ma2 jority vote— 

3 (i) approve the pool as submitted by 

4 the nonpartisan agency, in which case the 

5 pool shall be considered the approved selec6 tion pool for purposes of section 201(a)(1); 

7 or 

8 (ii) reject the pool. 

9 (B) INACTION DEEMED REJECTION.—If 

10 the Select Committee on Redistricting fails to 

11 approve or reject the pool within the deadline 

12 set forth in subparagraph (A), the Select Com13 mittee shall be deemed to have rejected the pool 

14 for purposes of such subparagraph. 

15 (C) EFFECT OF REJECTION.—If the Select 

16 Committee on Redistricting rejects the second 

17 replacement pool from the nonpartisan agency 

18 under paragraph (1), the redistricting plan for 

19 the State shall be developed and enacted in ac20 cordance with title III. 

21 SEC. 203. PUBLIC NOTICE AND INPUT. 

22 (a) PUBLIC NOTICE AND INPUT.— 

23 (1) USE OF OPEN AND TRANSPARENT PROC24 ESS.—The independent redistricting commission of a 

25 State shall hold each of its meetings in public, shall 


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1 solicit and take into consideration comments from 

2 the public, including proposed maps, throughout the 

3 process of developing the redistricting plan for the 

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

5 transparent manner which provides for the widest 

6 public dissemination reasonably possible of its pro7 posed and final redistricting plans. 

8 (2) WEBSITE.— 

9 (A) FEATURES.—The commission shall 

10 maintain a public internet site which is not af11 filiated with or maintained by the office of any 

12 elected official and which includes the following 

13 features: 

14 (i) General information on the com15 mission, its role in the redistricting proc16 ess, and its members, including contact in17 formation. 

18 (ii) An updated schedule of commis19 sion hearings and activities, including 

20 deadlines for the submission of comments. 

21 (iii) All draft redistricting plans devel22 oped by the commission under subsection 

23 (b) and the final redistricting plan devel24 oped under subsection (c), including the 


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1 accompanying written evaluation under 

2 subsection (d). 

3 (iv) All comments received from the 

4 public on the commission’s activities, in5 cluding any proposed maps submitted 

6 under paragraph (1). 

7 (v) Live streaming of commission 

8 hearings and an archive of previous meet9 ings, including any documents considered 

10 at any such meeting, which the commission 

11 shall post not later than 24 hours after the 

12 conclusion of the meeting. 

13 (vi) Access in an easily usable format 

14 to the demographic and other data used by 

15 the commission to develop and analyze the 

16 proposed redistricting plans, together with 

17 access to any software used to draw maps 

18 of proposed districts and to any reports 

19 analyzing and evaluating any such maps. 

20 (vii) A method by which members of 

21 the public may submit comments and pro22 posed maps directly to the commission. 

23 (viii) All records of the commission, 

24 including all communications to or from 


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1 members, employees, and contractors re2 garding the work of the commission. 

3 (ix) A list of all contractors receiving 

4 payment from the commission, together 

5 with the annual disclosures submitted by 

6 the contractors under section 201(c)(3). 

7 (x) A list of the names of all individ8 uals who submitted applications to serve 

9 on the commission, together with the appli10 cations submitted by individuals included 

11 in any selection pool, except that the com12 mission may redact from such applications 

13 any financial or other personally sensitive 

14 information. 

15 (B) SEARCHABLE FORMAT.—The commis16 sion shall ensure that all information posted 

17 and maintained on the site under this para18 graph, including information and proposed 

19 maps submitted by the public, shall be main20 tained in an easily searchable format. 

21 (C) DEADLINE.—The commission shall en22 sure that the public internet site under this 

23 paragraph is operational (in at least a prelimi24 nary format) not later than January 1 of the 

25 year ending in the numeral one. 


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1 (3) PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD.—The commis2 sion shall solicit, accept, and consider comments 

3 from the public with respect to its duties, activities, 

4 and procedures at any time during the period— 

5 (A) which begins on January 1 of the year 

6 ending in the numeral one; and 

7 (B) which ends 7 days before the date of 

8 the meeting at which the commission shall vote 

9 on approving the final redistricting plan for en10 actment into law under subsection (c)(2). 

11 (4) MEETINGS AND HEARINGS IN VARIOUS GEO12 GRAPHIC LOCATIONS.—To the greatest extent prac13 ticable, the commission shall hold its meetings and 

14 hearings in various geographic regions and locations 

15 throughout the State. 

16 (5) MULTIPLE LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS FOR

17 ALL NOTICES.—The commission shall make each no18 tice which is required to be posted and published 

19 under this section available in any language in which 

20 the State (or any jurisdiction in the State) is re21 quired to provide election materials under section 

22 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

23 10503). 

24 (b) DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLICATION OF PRELIMI25 NARY REDISTRICTING PLAN.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Prior to developing and pub2 lishing a final redistricting plan under subsection 

3 (c), the independent redistricting commission of a 

4 State shall develop and publish a preliminary redis5 tricting plan. 

6 (2) MINIMUM PUBLIC HEARINGS AND OPPOR7 TUNITY FOR COMMENT PRIOR TO DEVELOPMENT.— 

8 (A) 3 HEARINGS REQUIRED.—Prior to de9 veloping a preliminary redistricting plan under 

10 this subsection, the commission shall hold not 

11 fewer than 3 public hearings at which members 

12 of the public may provide input and comments 

13 regarding the potential contents of redistricting 

14 plans for the State and the process by which 

15 the commission will develop the preliminary 

16 plan under this subsection. 

17 (B) MINIMUM PERIOD FOR NOTICE PRIOR

18 TO HEARINGS.—Not fewer than 14 days prior 

19 to the date of each hearing held under this 

20 paragraph, the commission shall post notices of 

21 the hearing on the website maintained under 

22 subsection (a)(2), and shall provide for the pub23 lication of such notices in newspapers of general 

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1 tice shall specify the date, time, and location of 

2 the hearing. 

3 (C) SUBMISSION OF PLANS AND MAPS BY

4 MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.—Any member of 

5 the public may submit maps or portions of 

6 maps for consideration by the commission. As 

7 provided under subsection (a)(2)(A), any such 

8 map shall be made publicly available on the 

9 commission’s website and open to comment. 

10 (3) PUBLICATION OF PRELIMINARY PLAN.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The commission shall 

12 post the preliminary redistricting plan devel13 oped under this subsection, together with a re14 port that includes the commission’s responses 

15 to any public comments received under sub16 section (a)(3), on the website maintained under 

17 subsection (a)(2), and shall provide for the pub18 lication of each such plan in newspapers of gen19 eral circulation throughout the State. 

20 (B) MINIMUM PERIOD FOR NOTICE PRIOR

21 TO PUBLICATION.—Not fewer than 14 days 

22 prior to the date on which the commission posts 

23 and publishes the preliminary plan under this 

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1 section (a)(2), as well as through publication of 

2 notice in newspapers of general circulation 

3 throughout the State, of the pending publica4 tion of the plan. 

5 (4) MINIMUM POST-PUBLICATION PERIOD FOR

6 PUBLIC COMMENT.—The commission shall accept 

7 and consider comments from the public (including 

8 through the website maintained under subsection 

9 (a)(2)) with respect to the preliminary redistricting 

10 plan published under paragraph (3), including pro11 posed revisions to maps, for not fewer than 30 days 

12 after the date on which the plan is published. 

13 (5) POST-PUBLICATION HEARINGS.— 

14 (A) 3 HEARINGS REQUIRED.—After post15 ing and publishing the preliminary redistricting 

16 plan under paragraph (3), the commission shall 

17 hold not fewer than 3 public hearings in dif18 ferent geographic areas of the State at which 

19 members of the public may provide input and 

20 comments regarding the preliminary plan. 

21 (B) MINIMUM PERIOD FOR NOTICE PRIOR

22 TO HEARINGS.—Not fewer than 14 days prior 

23 to the date of each hearing held under this 

24 paragraph, the commission shall post notices of 

25 the hearing on the website maintained under 


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1 subsection (a)(2), and shall provide for the pub2 lication of such notices in newspapers of general 

3 circulation throughout the State. Each such no4 tice shall specify the date, time, and location of 

5 the hearing. 

6 (6) PERMITTING MULTIPLE PRELIMINARY

7 PLANS.—At the option of the commission, after de8 veloping and publishing the preliminary redistricting 

9 plan under this subsection, the commission may de10 velop and publish subsequent preliminary redis11 tricting plans, so long as the process for the develop12 ment and publication of each such subsequent plan 

13 meets the requirements set forth in this subsection 

14 for the development and publication of the first pre15 liminary redistricting plan. 

16 (c) PROCESS FOR ENACTMENT OF FINAL REDIS17 TRICTING PLAN.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—After taking into consider19 ation comments from the public on any preliminary 

20 redistricting plan developed and published under 

21 subsection (b), the independent redistricting commis22 sion of a State shall develop and publish a final re23 districting plan for the State. 

24 (2) MEETING; FINAL VOTE.—Not later than the 

25 deadline specified in subsection (e), the commission 


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1 shall hold a public hearing at which the members of 

2 the commission shall vote on approving the final 

3 plan for enactment into law. 

4 (3) PUBLICATION OF PLAN AND ACCOMPANYING

5 MATERIALS.—Not fewer than 14 days before the 

6 date of the meeting under paragraph (2), the com7 mission shall provide the following information to 

8 the public through the website maintained under 

9 subsection (a)(2), as well as through newspapers of 

10 general circulation throughout the State: 

11 (A) The final redistricting plan, including 

12 all relevant maps. 

13 (B) A report by the commission to accom14 pany the plan which provides the background 

15 for the plan and the commission’s reasons for 

16 selecting the plan as the final redistricting plan, 

17 including responses to the public comments re18 ceived on any preliminary redistricting plan de19 veloped and published under subsection (b). 

20 (C) Any dissenting or additional views with 

21 respect to the plan of individual members of the 

22 commission. 

23 (4) ENACTMENT.—Subject to paragraph (5), 

24 the final redistricting plan developed and published 

25 under this subsection shall be deemed to be enacted 


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1 into law upon the expiration of the 45-day period 

2 which begins on the date on which— 

3 (A) such final plan is approved by a major4 ity of the whole membership of the commission; 

5 and 

6 (B) at least one member of the commission 

7 appointed from each of the categories of the ap8 proved selection pool described in section 

9 202(b)(1) approves such final plan. 

10 (5) REVIEW BY DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE.— 

11 (A) REQUIRING SUBMISSION OF PLAN FOR

12 REVIEW.—The final redistricting plan shall not 

13 be deemed to be enacted into law unless the 

14 State submits the plan to the Department of 

15 Justice for an administrative review to deter16 mine if the plan is in compliance with the cri17 teria described in paragraphs (2) and (3) of 

18 section 103(a). 

19 (B) TERMINATION OF REVIEW.—The De20 partment of Justice shall terminate any admin21 istrative review under subparagraph (A) if, dur22 ing the 45-day period which begins on the date 

23 the plan is enacted into law, an action is filed 

24 in a United States district court alleging that 

25 the plan is not in compliance with the criteria 


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1 described in paragraphs (2) and (3) of section 

2 103(a). 

3 (d) WRITTEN EVALUATION OF PLAN AGAINST EX4 TERNAL METRICS.—The independent redistricting com5 mission shall include with each redistricting plan devel6 oped and published under this section a written evaluation 

7 that measures each such plan against external metrics 

8 which cover the criteria set forth in section 103(a), includ9 ing the impact of the plan on the ability of communities 

10 of color to elect candidates of choice, measures of partisan 

11 fairness using multiple accepted methodologies, and the 

12 degree to which the plan preserves or divides communities 

13 of interest. 

14 (e) TIMING.—The independent redistricting commis15 sion of a State may begin its work on the redistricting 

16 plan of the State upon receipt of relevant population infor17 mation from the Bureau of the Census, and shall approve 

18 a final redistricting plan for the State in each year ending 

19 in the numeral one not later than 8 months after the date 

20 on which the State receives the State apportionment notice 

21 or October 1, whichever occurs later. 

22 SEC. 204. ESTABLISHMENT OF RELATED ENTITIES. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OR DESIGNATION OF NON24 PARTISAN AGENCY OF STATE LEGISLATURE.— 


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

2 nonpartisan agency in the legislative branch of the 

3 State government to appoint the members of the 

4 independent redistricting commission for the State 

5 in accordance with section 201. 

6 (2) NONPARTISANSHIP DESCRIBED.—For pur7 poses of this subsection, an agency shall be consid8 ered to be nonpartisan if under law the agency— 

9 (A) is required to provide services on a 

10 nonpartisan basis; 

11 (B) is required to maintain impartiality; 

12 and 

13 (C) is prohibited from advocating for the 

14 adoption or rejection of any legislative proposal. 

15 (3) TRAINING OF MEMBERS APPOINTED TO

16 COMMISSION.—Not later than January 15 of a year 

17 ending in the numeral one, the nonpartisan agency 

18 established or designated under this subsection shall 

19 provide the members of the independent redistricting 

20 commission with initial training on their obligations 

21 as members of the commission, including obligations 

22 under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

23 10301 et seq.) and other applicable laws. 

24 (4) REGULATIONS.—The nonpartisan agency 

25 established or designated under this subsection shall 


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1 adopt and publish regulations, after notice and op2 portunity for comment, establishing the procedures 

3 that the agency will follow in fulfilling its duties 

4 under this Act, including the procedures to be used 

5 in vetting the qualifications and political affiliation 

6 of applicants and in creating the selection pools, the 

7 randomized process to be used in selecting the initial 

8 members of the independent redistricting commis9 sion, and the rules that the agency will apply to en10 sure that the agency carries out its duties under this 

11 Act in a maximally transparent, publicly accessible, 

12 and impartial manner. 

13 (5) DESIGNATION OF EXISTING AGENCY.—At 

14 its option, a State may designate an existing agency 

15 in the legislative branch of its government to appoint 

16 the members of the independent redistricting com17 mission plan for the State under this Act, so long 

18 as the agency meets the requirements for non19 partisanship under this subsection. 

20 (6) TERMINATION OF AGENCY SPECIFICALLY

21 ESTABLISHED FOR REDISTRICTING.—If a State does 

22 not designate an existing agency under paragraph 

23 (5) but instead establishes a new agency to serve as 

24 the nonpartisan agency under this section, the new 


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1 agency shall terminate upon the enactment into law 

2 of the redistricting plan for the State. 

3 (7) PRESERVATION OF RECORDS.—The State 

4 shall ensure that the records of the nonpartisan 

5 agency are retained in the appropriate State archive 

6 in such manner as may be necessary to enable the 

7 State to respond to any civil action brought with re8 spect to congressional redistricting in the State. 

9 (8) DEADLINE.—The State shall meet the re10 quirements of this subsection not later than each 

11 October 15 of a year ending in the numeral nine. 

12 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF SELECT COMMITTEE ON RE13 DISTRICTING.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall appoint a 

15 Select Committee on Redistricting to approve or dis16 approve a selection pool developed for the State by 

17 the nonpartisan agency pursuant to section 202(b). 

18 (2) APPOINTMENT.—The Select Committee on 

19 Redistricting for a State under this subsection shall 

20 consist of the following members: 

21 (A) One member of the upper house of the 

22 State legislature, who shall be appointed by the 

23 leader of the party with the greatest number of 

24 seats in the upper house. 


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1 (B) One member of the upper house of the 

2 State legislature, who shall be appointed by the 

3 leader of the party with the second greatest 

4 number of seats in the upper house. 

5 (C) One member of the lower house of the 

6 State legislature, who shall be appointed by the 

7 leader of the party with the greatest number of 

8 seats in the lower house. 

9 (D) One member of the lower house of the 

10 State legislature, who shall be appointed by the 

11 leader of the party with the second greatest 

12 number of seats in the lower house. 

13 (3) SPECIAL RULE FOR STATES WITH UNICAM14 ERAL LEGISLATURE.—In the case of a State with a 

15 unicameral legislature, the Select Committee on Re16 districting for the State under this subsection shall 

17 consist of the following members: 

18 (A) Two members of the State legislature 

19 appointed by the chair of the political party of 

20 the State whose candidate received the highest 

21 percentage of votes in the most recent statewide 

22 election for Federal office held in the State. 

23 (B) Two members of the State legislature 

24 appointed by the chair of the political party 

25 whose candidate received the second highest 


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1 percentage of votes in the most recent statewide 

2 election for Federal office held in the State. 

3 (4) DEADLINE.—The State shall meet the re4 quirements of this subsection not later than each 

5 January 15 of a year ending in the numeral zero. 

6 (5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

7 subsection may be construed to prohibit the leader 

8 of any political party in a legislature from appoint9 ment to the Select Committee on Redistricting. 

10 SEC. 205. REPORT ON DIVERSITY OF MEMBERSHIPS OF 

11 INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMIS12 SIONS. 

13 Not later than May 15 of a year ending in the nu14 meral one, the Comptroller General of the United States 

15 shall submit to Congress a report on the extent to which 

16 the memberships of independent redistricting commissions 

17 for States established under this title with respect to the 

18 immediately preceding year ending in the numeral zero 

19 meet the diversity requirements as provided for in sections 

20 201(a)(2)(B) and 202(b)(2). 


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1 TITLE III—ROLE OF COURTS IN 

2 DEVELOPMENT OF REDIS3 TRICTING PLANS 

4 SEC. 301. ENACTMENT OF PLAN DEVELOPED BY 3-JUDGE 

5 COURT. 

6 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN.—If any of the trig7 gering events described in subsection (f) occur with re8 spect to a State— 

9 (1) not later than December 15 of the year in 

10 which the triggering event occurs, the United States 

11 district court for the applicable venue, acting 

12 through a 3-judge court convened pursuant to sec13 tion 2284 of title 28, United States Code, shall de14 velop and publish the congressional redistricting 

15 plan for the State; and 

16 (2) the final plan developed and published by 

17 the court under this section shall be deemed to be 

18 enacted on the date on which the court publishes the 

19 final plan, as described in subsection (d). 

20 (b) APPLICABLE VENUE DESCRIBED.—For purposes 

21 of this section, the ‘‘applicable venue’’ with respect to a 

22 State is the District of Columbia or the judicial district 

23 in which the capital of the State is located, as selected 

24 by the first party to file with the court sufficient evidence 


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1 of the occurrence of a triggering event described in sub2 section (f). 

3 (c) PROCEDURES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN.— 

4 (1) CRITERIA.—In developing a redistricting 

5 plan for a State under this section, the court shall 

6 adhere to the same terms and conditions that ap7 plied (or that would have applied, as the case may 

8 be) to the development of a plan by the independent 

9 redistricting commission of the State under section 

10 103. 

11 (2) ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND RECORDS OF

12 COMMISSION.—The court shall have access to any 

13 information, data, software, or other records and 

14 material that was used (or that would have been 

15 used, as the case may be) by the independent redis16 tricting commission of the State in carrying out its 

17 duties under this Act. 

18 (3) HEARING; PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—In de19 veloping a redistricting plan for a State, the court 

20 shall— 

21 (A) hold one or more evidentiary hearings 

22 at which interested members of the public may 

23 appear and be heard and present testimony, in24 cluding expert testimony, in accordance with 

25 the rules of the court; and 


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1 (B) consider other submissions and com2 ments by the public, including proposals for re3 districting plans to cover the entire State or 

4 any portion of the State. 

5 (4) USE OF SPECIAL MASTER.—To assist in the 

6 development and publication of a redistricting plan 

7 for a State under this section, the court may appoint 

8 a special master to make recommendations to the 

9 court on possible plans for the State. 

10 (d) PUBLICATION OF PLAN.— 

11 (1) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF INITIAL PLAN.— 

12 Upon completing the development of one or more 

13 initial redistricting plans, the court shall make the 

14 plans available to the public at no cost, and shall 

15 also make available the underlying data used by the 

16 court to develop the plans and a written evaluation 

17 of the plans against external metrics (as described in 

18 section 203(d)). 

19 (2) PUBLICATION OF FINAL PLAN.—At any 

20 time after the expiration of the 14-day period which 

21 begins on the date the court makes the plans avail22 able to the public under paragraph (1), and taking 

23 into consideration any submissions and comments by 

24 the public which are received during such period, the 


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1 court shall develop and publish the final redistricting 

2 plan for the State. 

3 (e) USE OF INTERIM PLAN.—In the event that the 

4 court is not able to develop and publish a final redis5 tricting plan for the State with sufficient time for an up6 coming election to proceed, the court may develop and 

7 publish an interim redistricting plan which shall serve as 

8 the redistricting plan for the State until the court develops 

9 and publishes a final plan in accordance with this section. 

10 Nothing in this subsection may be construed to limit or 

11 otherwise affect the authority or discretion of the court 

12 to develop and publish the final redistricting plan, includ13 ing the discretion to make any changes the court deems 

14 necessary to an interim redistricting plan. 

15 (f) TRIGGERING EVENTS DESCRIBED.—The ‘‘trig16 gering events’’ described in this subsection are as follows: 

17 (1) The failure of the State to establish or des18 ignate a nonpartisan agency of the State legislature 

19 under section 204(a) prior to the expiration of the 

20 deadline set forth in section 204(a)(8). 

21 (2) The failure of the State to appoint a Select 

22 Committee on Redistricting under section 204(b) 

23 prior to the expiration of the deadline set forth in 

24 section 204(b)(4). 


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1 (3) The failure of the Select Committee on Re2 districting to approve any selection pool under sec3 tion 202 prior to the expiration of the deadline set 

4 forth for the approval of the second replacement se5 lection pool in section 202(d)(2). 

6 (4) The failure of the independent redistricting 

7 commission of the State to approve a final redis8 tricting plan for the State prior to the expiration of 

9 the deadline set forth in section 203(e). 

10 SEC. 302. SPECIAL RULE FOR REDISTRICTING CONDUCTED 

11 UNDER ORDER OF FEDERAL COURT. 

12 If a Federal court requires a State to conduct redis13 tricting subsequent to an apportionment of Representa14 tives in the State in order to comply with the Constitution 

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

16 10301 et seq.), section 203 shall apply with respect to the 

17 redistricting, except that the court may revise any of the 

18 deadlines set forth in such section if the court determines 

19 that a revision is appropriate in order to provide for a 

20 timely enactment of a new redistricting plan for the State. 


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1 TITLE IV—ADMINISTRATIVE AND 

2 MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS 

3 SEC. 401. PAYMENTS TO STATES FOR CARRYING OUT RE4 DISTRICTING. 

5 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF PAYMENTS.—Subject to sub6 section (d), not later than 30 days after a State receives 

7 a State apportionment notice, the Election Assistance 

8 Commission shall, subject to the availability of appropria9 tions provided pursuant to subsection (e), make a payment 

10 to the State in an amount equal to the product of— 

11 (1) the number of Representatives to which the 

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

13 (2) $150,000. 

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

15 made under this section to establish and operate the 

16 State’s independent redistricting commission, to imple17 ment the State redistricting plan, and to otherwise carry 

18 out congressional redistricting in the State. 

19 (c) NO PAYMENT TO STATES WITH SINGLE MEM20 BER.—The Election Assistance Commission shall not 

21 make a payment under this section to any State which 

22 is not entitled to more than one Representative under its 

23 State apportionment notice. 

24 (d) REQUIRING SUBMISSION OF SELECTION POOL AS

25 CONDITION OF PAYMENT.— 


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1 (1) REQUIREMENT.—Except as provided in 

2 paragraph (2), the Election Assistance Commission 

3 may not make a payment to a State under this sec4 tion until the State certifies to the Commission that 

5 the nonpartisan agency established or designated by 

6 a State under section 204(a) has, in accordance with 

7 section 202(b)(1), submitted a selection pool to the 

8 Select Committee on Redistricting for the State es9 tablished under section 204(b). 

10 (2) EXCEPTION FOR STATES WITH EXISTING

11 COMMISSIONS.—In the case of a State which, pursu12 ant to section 101(c), is exempt from the require13 ments of section 101(a), the Commission may not 

14 make a payment to the State under this section until 

15 the State certifies to the Commission that its redis16 tricting commission meets the requirements of sec17 tion 101(c). 

18 (3) EXCEPTION FOR STATE OF IOWA.—In the 

19 case of the State of Iowa, the Commission may not 

20 make a payment to the State under this section until 

21 the State certifies to the Commission that it will 

22 carry out congressional redistricting pursuant to the 

23 State’s apportionment notice in accordance with a 

24 plan developed by the Iowa Legislative Services 

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1 tricting Advisory Commission, as provided under the 

2 law described in section 101(d). 

3 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

4 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

5 necessary for payments under this section. 

6 SEC. 402. CIVIL ENFORCEMENT. 

7 (a) CIVIL ENFORCEMENT.— 

8 (1) ACTIONS BY ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The At9 torney General may bring a civil action in an appro10 priate district court for such relief as may be appro11 priate to carry out this Act. 

12 (2) AVAILABILITY OF PRIVATE RIGHT OF AC13 TION.—Any citizen of a State who is aggrieved by 

14 the failure of the State to meet the requirements of 

15 this Act may bring a civil action in the United 

16 States district court for the applicable venue for 

17 such relief as may be appropriate to remedy the fail18 ure. For purposes of this section, the ‘‘applicable 

19 venue’’ is the District of Columbia or the judicial 

20 district in which the capital of the State is located, 

21 as selected by the person who brings the civil action. 

22 (b) EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION.—In any action 

23 brought forth under this section, the following rules shall 

24 apply: 


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1 (1) The action shall be filed in the district court 

2 of the United States for the District of Columbia or 

3 for the judicial district in which the capital of the 

4 State is located, as selected by the person bringing 

5 the action. 

6 (2) The action shall be heard by a 3-judge 

7 court convened pursuant to section 2284 of title 28, 

8 United States Code. 

9 (3) The 3-judge court shall consolidate actions 

10 brought for relief under subsection (b)(1) with re11 spect to the same State redistricting plan. 

12 (4) A copy of the complaint shall be delivered 

13 promptly to the Clerk of the House of Representa14 tives and the Secretary of the Senate. 

15 (5) A final decision in the action shall be re16 viewable only by appeal directly to the Supreme 

17 Court of the United States. Such appeal shall be 

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

19 days, and the filing of a jurisdictional statement 

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

21 (6) It shall be the duty of the district court and 

22 the Supreme Court of the United States to advance 

23 on the docket and to expedite to the greatest pos24 sible extent the disposition of the action and appeal. 

25 (c) REMEDIES.— 


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1 (1) ADOPTION OF REPLACEMENT PLAN.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the district court in 

3 an action under this section finds that the con4 gressional redistricting plan of a State violates, 

5 in whole or in part, the requirements of this 

6 Act— 

7 (i) the court shall adopt a replacement 

8 congressional redistricting plan for the 

9 State in accordance with the process set 

10 forth in section 301; or 

11 (ii) if circumstances warrant and no 

12 delay to an upcoming regularly scheduled 

13 election for the House of Representatives 

14 in the State would result, the district court 

15 may allow a State to develop and propose 

16 a remedial congressional redistricting plan 

17 for consideration by the court, and such 

18 remedial plan may be developed by the 

19 State by adopting such appropriate 

20 changes to the State’s enacted plan as may 

21 be ordered by the court. 

22 (B) SPECIAL RULE IN CASE FINAL ADJU23 DICATION NOT EXPECTED WITHIN 3 MONTHS

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1 pected to be completed at least three months 

2 prior to the next regularly scheduled election 

3 for the House of Representatives in the State, 

4 the district court shall, as the balance of equi5 ties warrant,— 

6 (i) order development, adoption, and 

7 use of an interim congressional redis8 tricting plan in accordance with section 

9 301(e) to address any claims under this 

10 Act for which a party seeking relief has 

11 demonstrated a substantial likelihood of 

12 success; or 

13 (ii) order adjustments to the timing of 

14 primary elections for the House of Rep15 resentatives, as needed, to allow sufficient 

16 opportunity for adjudication of the matter 

17 and adoption of a remedial or replacement 

18 plan for use in the next regularly sched19 uled general elections for the House of 

20 Representatives. 

21 (2) NO INJUNCTIVE RELIEF PERMITTED.—Any 

22 remedial or replacement congressional redistricting 

23 plan ordered under this subsection shall not be sub24 ject to temporary or preliminary injunctive relief 


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1 from any court unless the record establishes that a 

2 writ of mandamus is warranted. 

3 (3) NO STAY PENDING APPEAL.—Notwith4 standing the appeal of an order finding that a con5 gressional redistricting plan of a State violates, in 

6 whole or in part, the requirements of this Act, no 

7 stay shall issue which shall bar the development or 

8 adoption of a replacement or remedial plan under 

9 this subsection, as may be directed by the district 

10 court, pending such appeal. 

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

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

13 than the United States) reasonable attorney fees, includ14 ing litigation expenses, and costs. 

15 (e) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.— 

16 (1) RIGHTS AND REMEDIES ADDITIONAL TO

17 OTHER RIGHTS AND REMEDIES.—The rights and 

18 remedies established by this section are in addition 

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

20 neither the rights and remedies established by this 

21 section nor any other provision of this Act shall su22 persede, restrict, or limit the application of the Vot23 ing Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.). 

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

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1 hibited by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 

2 10301 et seq.). 

3 (f) LEGISLATIVE PRIVILEGE.—No person, legisla4 ture, or State may claim legislative privilege under either 

5 State or Federal law in a civil action brought under this 

6 section or in any other legal challenge, under either State 

7 or Federal law, to a redistricting plan enacted under this 

8 Act. 

9 SEC. 403. STATE APPORTIONMENT NOTICE DEFINED. 

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

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

12 the Clerk of the House of Representatives under section 

13 22(b) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the fif14 teenth and subsequent decennial censuses and to provide 

15 for an apportionment of Representatives in Congress’’, ap16 proved June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a), of the number of 

17 Representatives to which the State is entitled. 

18 SEC. 404. NO EFFECT ON ELECTIONS FOR STATE AND 

19 LOCAL OFFICE. 

20 Nothing in this Act or in any amendment made by 

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

22 a State carries out elections for State or local office, in23 cluding the process by which a State establishes the dis24 tricts used in such elections. 


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1 SEC. 405. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

3 apply with respect to redistricting carried out pursuant to 

4 the decennial census conducted during 2030 or any suc5 ceeding decennial census. 

6 TITLE V—REQUIREMENTS FOR 

7 REDISTRICTING CARRIED 

8 OUT PURSUANT TO 2020 CEN9 SUS 

10 Subtitle A—Application of Certain 

11 Requirements for Redistricting 

12 Carried Out Pursuant to 2020 

13 Census 

14 SEC. 511. APPLICATION OF CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS FOR 

15 REDISTRICTING CARRIED OUT PURSUANT TO 

16 2020 CENSUS. 

17 Notwithstanding section 405, titles I, III, and IV of 

18 this Act and the amendments made by such titles shall 

19 apply with respect to congressional redistricting carried 

20 out pursuant to the decennial census conducted during 

21 2020 in the same manner as such titles and the amend22 ments made by such title apply with respect to redis23 tricting carried out pursuant to the decennial census con24 ducted during 2030, except as follows: 


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1 (1) Except as provided in subsection (c) and 

2 subsection (d) of section 101, the redistricting shall 

3 be conducted in accordance with— 

4 (A) the redistricting plan developed and 

5 enacted into law by the independent redis6 tricting commission established in the State in 

7 accordance with subtitle B; or 

8 (B) if a plan developed by such commission 

9 is not enacted into law, the redistricting plan 

10 developed and enacted into law by a 3-judge 

11 court in accordance with section 301. 

12 (2) If any of the triggering events described in 

13 section 512 occur with respect to the State, the 

14 United States district court for the applicable venue 

15 shall develop and publish the redistricting plan for 

16 the State, in accordance with section 301, not later 

17 than March 15, 2022. 

18 (3) For purposes of section 401(d)(1), the Elec19 tion Assistance Commission may not make a pay20 ment to a State under such section until the State 

21 certifies to the Commission that the nonpartisan 

22 agency established or designated by a State under 

23 section 524(a) has, in accordance with section 

24 522(b)(1), submitted a selection pool to the Select 


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1 Committee on Redistricting for the State established 

2 under section 524(b). 

3 SEC. 512. TRIGGERING EVENTS. 

4 For purposes of the redistricting carried out pursuant 

5 to the decennial census conducted during 2020, the trig6 gering events described in this section are as follows: 

7 (1) The failure of the State to establish or des8 ignate a nonpartisan agency under section 524(a) 

9 prior to the expiration of the deadline under section 

10 524(a)(6). 

11 (2) The failure of the State to appoint a Select 

12 Committee on Redistricting under section 524(b) 

13 prior to the expiration of the deadline under section 

14 524(b)(4). 

15 (3) The failure of the Select Committee on Re16 districting to approve a selection pool under section 

17 522(b) prior to the expiration of the deadline under 

18 section 522(b)(7). 

19 (4) The failure of the independent redistricting 

20 commission of the State to approve a final redis21 tricting plan for the State under section 523 prior 

22 to the expiration of the deadline under section 

23 523(e). 


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1 Subtitle B—Independent Redis2 tricting Commissions for Redis3 tricting Carried Out Pursuant 

4 to 2020 Census 

5 SEC. 521. USE OF INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMIS6 SIONS FOR REDISTRICTING CARRIED OUT 

7 PURSUANT TO 2020 CENSUS. 

8 (a) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The nonpartisan agency es10 tablished or designated by a State under section 

11 524(a) shall establish an independent redistricting 

12 commission under this title for the State, which shall 

13 consist of 15 members appointed by the agency as 

14 follows: 

15 (A) Not later than November 5, 2021, the 

16 agency shall, at a public meeting held not ear17 lier than 15 days after notice of the meeting 

18 has been given to the public, first appoint 6 

19 members as follows: 

20 (i) The agency shall appoint 2 mem21 bers on a random basis from the majority 

22 category of the approved selection pool (as 

23 described in section 522(b)(1)(A)). 

24 (ii) The agency shall appoint 2 mem25 bers on a random basis from the minority 


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1 category of the approved selection pool (as 

2 described in section 522(b)(1)(B)). 

3 (iii) The agency shall appoint 2 mem4 bers on a random basis from the inde5 pendent category of the approved selection 

6 pool (as described in section 522(b)(1)(C)). 

7 (B) Not later than November 15, 2021, 

8 the members appointed by the agency under 

9 subparagraph (A) shall, at a public meeting 

10 held not earlier than 15 days after notice of the 

11 meeting has been given to the public, then ap12 point 9 members as follows: 

13 (i) The members shall appoint 3 mem14 bers from the majority category of the ap15 proved selection pool (as described in sec16 tion 522(b)(1)(A)). 

17 (ii) The members shall appoint 3 

18 members from the minority category of the 

19 approved selection pool (as described in 

20 section 522(b)(1)(B)). 

21 (iii) The members shall appoint 3 

22 members from the independent category of 

23 the approved selection pool (as described in 

24 section 522(b)(1)(C)). 


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1 (2) RULES FOR APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS

2 APPOINTED BY FIRST MEMBERS.— 

3 (A) AFFIRMATIVE VOTE OF AT LEAST 4

4 MEMBERS.—The appointment of any of the 9 

5 members of the independent redistricting com6 mission who are appointed by the first members 

7 of the commission pursuant to subparagraph 

8 (B) of paragraph (1) shall require the affirma9 tive vote of at least 4 of the members appointed 

10 by the nonpartisan agency under subparagraph 

11 (A) of paragraph (1), including at least one 

12 member from each of the categories referred to 

13 in such subparagraph. 

14 (B) ENSURING DIVERSITY.—In appointing 

15 the 9 members pursuant to subparagraph (B) 

16 of paragraph (1), the first members of the inde17 pendent redistricting commission shall ensure 

18 that the membership is representative of the de19 mographic groups (including racial, ethnic, eco20 nomic, and gender) and geographic regions of 

21 the State, and provides racial, ethnic, and lan22 guage minorities protected under the Voting 

23 Rights Act of 1965 with a meaningful oppor24 tunity to participate in the development of the 

25 State’s redistricting plan. 


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1 (3) REMOVAL.—A member of the independent 

2 redistricting commission may be removed by a ma3 jority vote of the remaining members of the commis4 sion if it is shown by a preponderance of the evi5 dence that the member is not eligible to serve on the 

6 commission under section 522(a). 

7 (b) PROCEDURES FOR CONDUCTING COMMISSION

8 BUSINESS.— 

9 (1) REQUIRING MAJORITY APPROVAL FOR AC10 TIONS.—The independent redistricting commission 

11 of a State under this title may not publish and dis12 seminate any draft or final redistricting plan, or 

13 take any other action, without the approval of at 

14 least— 

15 (A) a majority of the whole membership of 

16 the commission; and 

17 (B) at least one member of the commission 

18 appointed from each of the categories of the ap19 proved selection pool described in section 

20 522(b)(1). 

21 (2) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 

22 the commission shall constitute a quorum. 

23 (c) STAFF; CONTRACTORS.— 

24 (1) STAFF.—Under a public application process 

25 in which all application materials are available for 


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1 public inspection, the independent redistricting com2 mission of a State under this title shall appoint and 

3 set the pay of technical experts, legal counsel, con4 sultants, and such other staff as it considers appro5 priate, subject to State law. 

6 (2) CONTRACTORS.—The independent redis7 tricting commission of a State may enter into such 

8 contracts with vendors as it considers appropriate, 

9 subject to State law, except that any such contract 

10 shall be valid only if approved by the vote of a ma11 jority of the members of the commission, including 

12 at least one member appointed from each of the cat13 egories of the approved selection pool described in 

14 section 522(b)(1). 

15 (3) GOAL OF IMPARTIALITY.—The commission 

16 shall take such steps as it considers appropriate to 

17 ensure that any staff appointed under this sub18 section, and any vendor with whom the commission 

19 enters into a contract under this subsection, will 

20 work in an impartial manner. 

21 (d) PRESERVATION OF RECORDS.—The State shall 

22 ensure that the records of the independent redistricting 

23 commission are retained in the appropriate State archive 

24 in such manner as may be necessary to enable the State 


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1 to respond to any civil action brought with respect to con2 gressional redistricting in the State. 

3 SEC. 522. ESTABLISHMENT OF SELECTION POOL OF INDI4 VIDUALS ELIGIBLE TO SERVE AS MEMBERS 

5 OF COMMISSION. 

6 (a) CRITERIA FOR ELIGIBILITY.— 

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

8 serve as a member of an independent redistricting 

9 commission under this title if the individual meets 

10 each of the following criteria: 

11 (A) As of the date of appointment, the in12 dividual is registered to vote in elections for 

13 Federal office held in the State. 

14 (B) During the 3-year period ending on 

15 the date of the individual’s appointment, the in16 dividual has been continuously registered to 

17 vote with the same political party, or has not 

18 been registered to vote with any political party. 

19 (C) The individual submits to the non20 partisan agency established or designated by a 

21 State under section 524, at such time and in 

22 such form as the agency may require, an appli23 cation for inclusion in the selection pool under 

24 this section, and includes with the application a 

25 written statement, with an attestation under 


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1 penalty of perjury, containing the following in2 formation and assurances: 

3 (i) The full current name and any 

4 former names of, and the contact informa5 tion for, the individual, including an elec6 tronic mail address, the address of the in7 dividual’s residence, mailing address, and 

8 telephone numbers. 

9 (ii) The individual’s race, ethnicity, 

10 gender, age, date of birth, and household 

11 income for the most recent taxable year. 

12 (iii) The political party with which the 

13 individual is affiliated, if any. 

14 (iv) The reason or reasons the indi15 vidual desires to serve on the independent 

16 redistricting commission, the individual’s 

17 qualifications, and information relevant to 

18 the ability of the individual to be fair and 

19 impartial, including— 

20 (I) any involvement with, or fi21 nancial support of, professional, so22 cial, political, religious, or community 

23 organizations or causes; and 

24 (II) the individual’s employment 

25 and educational history. 


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1 (v) An assurance that the individual 

2 shall commit to carrying out the individ3 ual’s duties under this Act in an honest, 

4 independent, and impartial fashion, and to 

5 upholding public confidence in the integrity 

6 of the redistricting process. 

7 (vi) An assurance that, during such 

8 covered period as the State may establish 

9 with respect to any of the subparagraphs 

10 of paragraph (2), the individual has not 

11 taken and will not take any action which 

12 would disqualify the individual from serv13 ing as a member of the commission under 

14 such paragraph. 

15 (2) DISQUALIFICATIONS.—An individual is not 

16 eligible to serve as a member of the commission if 

17 any of the following applies with respect to such cov18 ered period as the State may establish: 

19 (A) The individual or an immediate family 

20 member of the individual holds public office or 

21 is a candidate for election for public office. 

22 (B) The individual or an immediate family 

23 member of the individual serves as an officer of 

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

25 paid consultant of a campaign committee of a 


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1 candidate for public office or of any political ac2 tion committee (as determined in accordance 

3 with the law of the State). 

4 (C) The individual or an immediate family 

5 member of the individual holds a position as a 

6 registered lobbyist under the Lobbying Disclo7 sure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) or an 

8 equivalent State or local law. 

9 (D) The individual or an immediate family 

10 member of the individual is an employee of an 

11 elected public official, a contractor with the gov12 ernment of the State, or a donor to the cam13 paign of any candidate for public office or to 

14 any political action committee (other than a 

15 donor who, during any of such covered periods, 

16 gives an aggregate amount of $1,000 or less to 

17 the campaigns of all candidates for all public 

18 offices and to all political action committees). 

19 (E) The individual paid a civil money pen20 alty or criminal fine, or was sentenced to a 

21 term of imprisonment, for violating any provi22 sion of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 

23 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.). 

24 (F) The individual or an immediate family 

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1 eign principal under the Foreign Agents Reg2 istration Act of 1938 (22 U.S.C. 611 et seq.). 

3 (3) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.—In 

4 this subsection, the term ‘‘immediate family mem5 ber’’ means, with respect to an individual, a father, 

6 stepfather, mother, stepmother, son, stepson, daugh7 ter, stepdaughter, brother, stepbrother, sister, step8 sister, husband, wife, father-in-law, or mother-in9 law. 

10 (b) DEVELOPMENT AND SUBMISSION OF SELECTION

11 POOL.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than October 15, 

13 2021, the nonpartisan agency established or des14 ignated by a State under section 524(a) shall de15 velop and submit to the Select Committee on Redis16 tricting for the State established under section 

17 524(b) a selection pool of 36 individuals who are eli18 gible to serve as members of the independent redis19 tricting commission of the State under this title, 

20 consisting of individuals in the following categories: 

21 (A) A majority category, consisting of 12 

22 individuals who are affiliated with the political 

23 party whose candidate received the most votes 

24 in the most recent Statewide election for Fed25 eral office held in the State. 


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1 (B) A minority category, consisting of 12 

2 individuals who are affiliated with the political 

3 party whose candidate received the second most 

4 votes in the most recent Statewide election for 

5 Federal office held in the State. 

6 (C) An independent category, consisting of 

7 12 individuals who are not affiliated with either 

8 of the political parties described in subpara9 graph (A) or subparagraph (B). 

10 (2) FACTORS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN DEVEL11 OPING POOL.—In selecting individuals for the selec12 tion pool under this subsection, the nonpartisan 

13 agency shall— 

14 (A) ensure that the pool is representative 

15 of the demographic groups (including racial, 

16 ethnic, economic, and gender) and geographic 

17 regions of the State, and includes applicants 

18 who would allow racial, ethnic, and language 

19 minorities protected under the Voting Rights 

20 Act of 1965 a meaningful opportunity to par21 ticipate in the development of the State’s redis22 tricting plan; and 

23 (B) take into consideration the analytical 

24 skills of the individuals selected in relevant 

25 fields (including mapping, data management, 


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1 law, community outreach, demography, and the 

2 geography of the State) and their ability to 

3 work on an impartial basis. 

4 (3) DETERMINATION OF POLITICAL PARTY AF5 FILIATION OF INDIVIDUALS IN SELECTION POOL.— 

6 For purposes of this section, an individual shall be 

7 considered to be affiliated with a political party only 

8 if the nonpartisan agency is able to verify (to the 

9 greatest extent possible) the information the indi10 vidual provides in the application submitted under 

11 subsection (a)(1)(C), including by considering addi12 tional information provided by other persons with 

13 knowledge of the individual’s history of political ac14 tivity. 

15 (4) ENCOURAGING RESIDENTS TO APPLY FOR

16 INCLUSION IN POOL.—The nonpartisan agency shall 

17 take such steps as may be necessary to ensure that 

18 residents of the State across various geographic re19 gions and demographic groups are aware of the op20 portunity to serve on the independent redistricting 

21 commission, including publicizing the role of the 

22 panel and using newspapers, broadcast media, and 

23 online sources, including ethnic media, to encourage 

24 individuals to apply for inclusion in the selection 

25 pool developed under this subsection. 


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1 (5) REPORT ON ESTABLISHMENT OF SELEC2 TION POOL.—At the time the nonpartisan agency 

3 submits the selection pool to the Select Committee 

4 on Redistricting under paragraph (1), it shall pub5 lish a report describing the process by which the 

6 pool was developed, and shall include in the report 

7 a description of how the individuals in the pool meet 

8 the eligibility criteria of subsection (a) and of how 

9 the pool reflects the factors the agency is required 

10 to take into consideration under paragraph (2). 

11 (6) PUBLIC COMMENT ON SELECTION POOL.— 

12 During the 14-day period which begins on the date 

13 the nonpartisan agency publishes the report under 

14 paragraph (5), the agency shall accept comments 

15 from the public on the individuals included in the se16 lection pool. The agency shall transmit all such com17 ments to the Select Committee on Redistricting im18 mediately upon the expiration of such period. 

19 (7) ACTION BY SELECT COMMITTEE.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than Novem21 ber 1, 2021, the Select Committee on Redis22 tricting shall— 

23 (i) approve the pool as submitted by 

24 the nonpartisan agency, in which case the 

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1 tion pool for purposes of section 521(a)(1); 

2 or 

3 (ii) reject the pool, in which case the 

4 redistricting plan for the State shall be de5 veloped and enacted in accordance with 

6 title III. 

7 (B) INACTION DEEMED REJECTION.—If 

8 the Select Committee on Redistricting fails to 

9 approve or reject the pool within the deadline 

10 set forth in subparagraph (A), the Select Com11 mittee shall be deemed to have rejected the pool 

12 for purposes of such subparagraph. 

13 SEC. 523. CRITERIA FOR REDISTRICTING PLAN; PUBLIC NO14 TICE AND INPUT. 

15 (a) PUBLIC NOTICE AND INPUT.— 

16 (1) USE OF OPEN AND TRANSPARENT PROC17 ESS.—The independent redistricting commission of a 

18 State under this title shall hold each of its meetings 

19 in public, shall solicit and take into consideration 

20 comments from the public, including proposed maps, 

21 throughout the process of developing the redis22 tricting plan for the State, and shall carry out its 

23 duties in an open and transparent manner which 

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1 ably possible of its proposed and final redistricting 

2 plans. 

3 (2) PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD.—The commis4 sion shall solicit, accept, and consider comments 

5 from the public with respect to its duties, activities, 

6 and procedures at any time until 7 days before the 

7 date of the meeting at which the commission shall 

8 vote on approving the final redistricting plan for en9 actment into law under subsection (c)(2). 

10 (3) MEETINGS AND HEARINGS IN VARIOUS GEO11 GRAPHIC LOCATIONS.—To the greatest extent prac12 ticable, the commission shall hold its meetings and 

13 hearings in various geographic regions and locations 

14 throughout the State. 

15 (4) MULTIPLE LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS FOR

16 ALL NOTICES.—The commission shall make each no17 tice which is required to be published under this sec18 tion available in any language in which the State (or 

19 any jurisdiction in the State) is required to provide 

20 election materials under section 203 of the Voting 

21 Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10503). 

22 (b) DEVELOPMENT AND PUBLICATION OF PRELIMI23 NARY REDISTRICTING PLAN.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Prior to developing and pub25 lishing a final redistricting plan under subsection 


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1 (c), the independent redistricting commission of a 

2 State under this title shall develop and publish a 

3 preliminary redistricting plan. 

4 (2) MINIMUM PUBLIC HEARINGS AND OPPOR5 TUNITY FOR COMMENT PRIOR TO DEVELOPMENT.— 

6 (A) 2 HEARINGS REQUIRED.—Prior to de7 veloping a preliminary redistricting plan under 

8 this subsection, the commission shall hold not 

9 fewer than 2 public hearings at which members 

10 of the public may provide input and comments 

11 regarding the potential contents of redistricting 

12 plans for the State and the process by which 

13 the commission will develop the preliminary 

14 plan under this subsection. 

15 (B) NOTICE PRIOR TO HEARINGS.—The 

16 commission shall provide for the publication of 

17 notices of each hearing held under this para18 graph, including in newspapers of general cir19 culation throughout the State. Each such notice 

20 shall specify the date, time, and location of the 

21 hearing. 

22 (C) SUBMISSION OF PLANS AND MAPS BY

23 MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.—Any member of 

24 the public may submit maps or portions of 

25 maps for consideration by the commission. 


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1 (3) PUBLICATION OF PRELIMINARY PLAN.—The 

2 commission shall provide for the publication of the 

3 preliminary redistricting plan developed under this 

4 subsection, including in newspapers of general cir5 culation throughout the State, and shall make pub6 licly available a report that includes the commis7 sion’s responses to any public comments received 

8 under this subsection. 

9 (4) PUBLIC COMMENT AFTER PUBLICATION.— 

10 The commission shall accept and consider comments 

11 from the public with respect to the preliminary re12 districting plan published under paragraph (3), in13 cluding proposed revisions to maps, until 14 days 

14 before the date of the meeting under subsection 

15 (c)(2) at which the members of the commission shall 

16 vote on approving the final redistricting plan for en17 actment into law. 

18 (5) POST-PUBLICATION HEARINGS.— 

19 (A) 2 HEARINGS REQUIRED.—After pub20 lishing the preliminary redistricting plan under 

21 paragraph (3), and not later than 14 days be22 fore the date of the meeting under subsection 

23 (c)(2) at which the members of the commission 

24 shall vote on approving the final redistricting 

25 plan for enactment into law, the commission 


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1 shall hold not fewer than 2 public hearings in 

2 different geographic areas of the State at which 

3 members of the public may provide input and 

4 comments regarding the preliminary plan. 

5 (B) NOTICE PRIOR TO HEARINGS.—The 

6 commission shall provide for the publication of 

7 notices of each hearing held under this para8 graph, including in newspapers of general cir9 culation throughout the State. Each such notice 

10 shall specify the date, time, and location of the 

11 hearing. 

12 (6) PERMITTING MULTIPLE PRELIMINARY

13 PLANS.—At the option of the commission, after de14 veloping and publishing the preliminary redistricting 

15 plan under this subsection, the commission may de16 velop and publish subsequent preliminary redis17 tricting plans, so long as the process for the develop18 ment and publication of each such subsequent plan 

19 meets the requirements set forth in this subsection 

20 for the development and publication of the first pre21 liminary redistricting plan. 

22 (c) PROCESS FOR ENACTMENT OF FINAL REDIS23 TRICTING PLAN.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—After taking into consider25 ation comments from the public on any preliminary 


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1 redistricting plan developed and published under 

2 subsection (b), the independent redistricting commis3 sion of a State under this title shall develop and 

4 publish a final redistricting plan for the State. 

5 (2) MEETING; FINAL VOTE.—Not later than the 

6 deadline specified in subsection (e), the commission 

7 shall hold a public hearing at which the members of 

8 the commission shall vote on approving the final 

9 plan for enactment into law. 

10 (3) PUBLICATION OF PLAN AND ACCOMPANYING

11 MATERIALS.—Not fewer than 14 days before the 

12 date of the meeting under paragraph (2), the com13 mission shall make the following information avail14 able to the public, including through newspapers of 

15 general circulation throughout the State: 

16 (A) The final redistricting plan, including 

17 all relevant maps. 

18 (B) A report by the commission to accom19 pany the plan which provides the background 

20 for the plan and the commission’s reasons for 

21 selecting the plan as the final redistricting plan, 

22 including responses to the public comments re23 ceived on any preliminary redistricting plan de24 veloped and published under subsection (b). 


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1 (C) Any dissenting or additional views with 

2 respect to the plan of individual members of the 

3 commission. 

4 (4) ENACTMENT.—The final redistricting plan 

5 developed and published under this subsection shall 

6 be deemed to be enacted into law upon the expira7 tion of the 45-day period which begins on the date 

8 on which— 

9 (A) such final plan is approved by a major10 ity of the whole membership of the commission; 

11 and 

12 (B) at least one member of the commission 

13 appointed from each of the categories of the ap14 proved selection pool described in section 

15 522(b)(1) approves such final plan. 

16 (d) WRITTEN EVALUATION OF PLAN AGAINST EX17 TERNAL METRICS.—The independent redistricting com18 mission of a State under this title shall include with each 

19 redistricting plan developed and published under this sec20 tion a written evaluation that measures each such plan 

21 against external metrics which cover the criteria set forth 

22 in section 103(a), including the impact of the plan on the 

23 ability of communities of color to elect candidates of 

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1 cepted methodologies, and the degree to which the plan 

2 preserves or divides communities of interest. 

3 (e) DEADLINE.—The independent redistricting com4 mission of a State under this title shall approve a final 

5 redistricting plan for the State not later than February 

6 15, 2022. 

7 SEC. 524. ESTABLISHMENT OF RELATED ENTITIES. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OR DESIGNATION OF NON9 PARTISAN AGENCY OF STATE LEGISLATURE.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall establish a 

11 nonpartisan agency in the legislative branch of the 

12 State government to appoint the members of the 

13 independent redistricting commission for the State 

14 under this title in accordance with section 521. 

15 (2) NONPARTISANSHIP DESCRIBED.—For pur16 poses of this subsection, an agency shall be consid17 ered to be nonpartisan if under law the agency— 

18 (A) is required to provide services on a 

19 nonpartisan basis; 

20 (B) is required to maintain impartiality; 

21 and 

22 (C) is prohibited from advocating for the 

23 adoption or rejection of any legislative proposal. 

24 (3) DESIGNATION OF EXISTING AGENCY.—At 

25 its option, a State may designate an existing agency 


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1 in the legislative branch of its government to appoint 

2 the members of the independent redistricting com3 mission plan for the State under this Act, so long 

4 as the agency meets the requirements for non5 partisanship under this subsection. 

6 (4) TERMINATION OF AGENCY SPECIFICALLY

7 ESTABLISHED FOR REDISTRICTING.—If a State does 

8 not designate an existing agency under paragraph 

9 (3) but instead establishes a new agency to serve as 

10 the nonpartisan agency under this section, the new 

11 agency shall terminate upon the enactment into law 

12 of the redistricting plan for the State. 

13 (5) PRESERVATION OF RECORDS.—The State 

14 shall ensure that the records of the nonpartisan 

15 agency are retained in the appropriate State archive 

16 in such manner as may be necessary to enable the 

17 State to respond to any civil action brought with re18 spect to congressional redistricting in the State. 

19 (6) DEADLINE.—The State shall meet the re20 quirements of this subsection not later than Sep21 tember 1, 2021. 

22 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF SELECT COMMITTEE ON RE23 DISTRICTING.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall appoint a 

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1 approve a selection pool developed by the inde2 pendent redistricting commission for the State under 

3 this title under section 522. 

4 (2) APPOINTMENT.—The Select Committee on 

5 Redistricting for a State under this subsection shall 

6 consist of the following members: 

7 (A) One member of the upper house of the 

8 State legislature, who shall be appointed by the 

9 leader of the party with the greatest number of 

10 seats in the upper house. 

11 (B) One member of the upper house of the 

12 State legislature, who shall be appointed by the 

13 leader of the party with the second greatest 

14 number of seats in the upper house. 

15 (C) One member of the lower house of the 

16 State legislature, who shall be appointed by the 

17 leader of the party with the greatest number of 

18 seats in the lower house. 

19 (D) One member of the lower house of the 

20 State legislature, who shall be appointed by the 

21 leader of the party with the second greatest 

22 number of seats in the lower house. 

23 (3) SPECIAL RULE FOR STATES WITH UNICAM24 ERAL LEGISLATURE.—In the case of a State with a 

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1 districting for the State under this subsection shall 

2 consist of the following members: 

3 (A) Two members of the State legislature 

4 appointed by the chair of the political party of 

5 the State whose candidate received the highest 

6 percentage of votes in the most recent State7 wide election for Federal office held in the 

8 State. 

9 (B) Two members of the State legislature 

10 appointed by the chair of the political party 

11 whose candidate received the second highest 

12 percentage of votes in the most recent State13 wide election for Federal office held in the 

14 State. 

15 (4) DEADLINE.—The State shall meet the re16 quirements of this subsection not later than Sep17 tember 15, 2021. 

18 (5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this 

19 subsection may be construed to prohibit the leader 

20 of any political party in a legislature from appoint21 ment to the Select Committee on Redistricting. 


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1 SEC. 525. REPORT ON DIVERSITY OF MEMBERSHIPS OF 

2 INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMIS3 SIONS. 

4 Not later than February 15, 2022, the Comptroller 

5 General of the United States shall submit to Congress a 

6 report on the extent to which the memberships of inde7 pendent redistricting commissions for States established 

8 under this title with respect to the immediately preceding 

9 year ending in the numeral zero meet the diversity require10 ments as provided for in sections 521(a)(2)(B) and 

11 522(b)(2). 


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Calendar No. 119 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2670 

A BILL 

To provide for redistricting reform, and for other 

purposes. 

AUGUST 7, 2021 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 


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