I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5596 

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

to conduct such redistricting through independent commissions, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 24, 2010 

Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California (for herself, Ms. ESHOO, Mrs. CAPPS, Ms. 

MATSUI, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. FARR, Mr. COSTA, Mr. HONDA, Mr. STARK, 

Ms. LEE of California, and Mr. SHERMAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

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

through independent commissions, and for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL 

4 AUTHORITY. 

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

6 ‘‘Redistricting Reform Act of 2010’’. 


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

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

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

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

10 Members of the House of Representatives; and 

11 (2) the authority granted to Congress under 

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

14 enforce section 2 of such amendment, which requires 

15 Representatives to be apportioned among the several 

16 States according to their number. 

17 SEC. 2. LIMIT ON CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING AFTER 

18 AN APPORTIONMENT. 

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

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

23 which has been redistricted in the manner provided by law 

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


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1 decennial censuses and to provide for an apportionment 

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

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

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

6 subsequent redistricting to comply with the Constitution 

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

8 1973 et seq.).’’. 

9 SEC. 3. REQUIRING REDISTRICTING TO BE CONDUCTED 

10 THROUGH PLAN OF INDEPENDENT STATE 

11 COMMISSION OR PLAN OF HIGHEST STATE 

12 COURT. 

13 (a) USE OF PLAN REQUIRED.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

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

17 with— 

18 (A) the redistricting plan developed by the 

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

21 5; or 

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

24 plan selected by the highest court in the State 


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1 or developed by a United States district court, 

2 in accordance with section 6. 

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

5 made by this Act may be construed to prohibit a 

6 State from conducting Congressional redistricting in 

7 accordance with such criteria and procedures as the 

8 State considers appropriate, to the extent that such 

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

11 made by this Act. 

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

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

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

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

17 ‘‘in the manner provided by the law thereof’’ and insert18 ing: ‘‘in the manner provided by the Redistricting Reform 

19 Act of 2010’’. 

20 SEC. 4. INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSION. 

21 (a) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.— 

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

23 an independent redistricting commission composed 

24 of the following members, each of whom is among 


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1 the pool of nominees presented to the legislature by 

2 the Governor of the State under subsection (b)(1): 

3 (A) A number of members who are affili4 ated with the political party with the largest 

5 percentage of the registered voters in the State 

6 who are affiliated with a political party and a 

7 number of members who are affiliated with the 

8 political party with the second largest percent9 age of the registered voters in the State who 

10 are affiliated with a political party (as deter11 mined with respect to the most recent State12 wide election for Federal office held in the 

13 State for which such information is available), 

14 such that the percentage of the members of the 

15 commission who are affiliated with each such 

16 party is (to the greatest extent practicable) 

17 equal to the percentage of registered voters in 

18 the State who are affiliated with such party, ap19 pointed with the approval of at least 2 of the 

20 following: 

21 (i) The leader of the party with the 

22 greatest number of seats in the upper 

23 house of the State legislature. 


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1 (ii) The leader of the party with the 

2 second greatest number of seats in the 

3 upper house of the State legislature. 

4 (iii) The leader of the party with the 

5 greatest number of seats in the lower 

6 house of the State legislature. 

7 (iv) The leader of the party with the 

8 second greatest number of seats in the 

9 lower house of the State legislature. 

10 (B) A number of members who are not af11 filiated with any of the political parties referred 

12 to in subparagraph (A), who shall be appointed 

by not fewer than 2 13 ⁄3 of the members appointed 

14 under subparagraph (A), such that the percent15 age of the members of the commission who are 

16 appointed under this subparagraph is (to the 

17 greatest extent practicable) equal to the per18 centage of registered voters in the State who 

19 are not affiliated with any of the political par20 ties referred to in subparagraph (A) (with re21 spect to the most recent statewide election for 

22 Federal office held in the State for which such 

23 information is available). 

24 (2) SPECIAL RULE FOR STATES WITH UNICAM25 ERAL LEGISLATURE.—In the case of a State with a 


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1 unicameral legislature, the independent redistricting 

2 commission established under this subsection shall 

3 be composed of the following members, each of 

4 whom is among the pool of nominees presented to 

5 the legislature by the Governor of the State under 

6 subsection (b)(1): 

7 (A) A number of members who are affili8 ated with the political party with the largest 

9 percentage of the registered voters in the State 

10 who are affiliated with a political party and a 

11 number of members who are affiliated with the 

12 political party with the second largest percent13 age of the registered voters in the State who 

14 are affiliated with a political party (as deter15 mined with respect to the most recent State16 wide election for Federal office held in the 

17 State for which such information is available), 

18 such that the percentage of the members of the 

19 commission who are affiliated with each such 

20 party is (to the greatest extent practicable) 

21 equal to the percentage of registered voters in 

22 the State who are affiliated with such party, ap23 pointed with the approval of at least one of the 

24 following: 


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1 (i) The leader of the party with the 

2 greatest number of seats in the legislature. 

3 (ii) The leader of the party with the 

4 second greatest number of seats in the leg5 islature. 

6 (B) A number of members who are not af7 filiated with any of the political parties referred 

8 to in subparagraph (A), who shall be appointed 

by not fewer than 2 9 ⁄3 of the members appointed 

10 under subparagraph (A), such that the percent11 age of the members of the commission who are 

12 appointed under this subparagraph is (to the 

13 greatest extent practicable) equal to the per14 centage of registered voters in the State who 

15 are not affiliated with any of the political par16 ties referred to in subparagraph (A) (with re17 spect to the most recent statewide election for 

18 Federal office held in the State for which such 

19 information is available). 

20 (3) NUMBER OF MEMBERS.—A State’s inde21 pendent redistricting commission established under 

22 this subsection shall have such number of members 

23 as the Governor of the State determines, except that 

24 the commission may not have more than 19 mem25 bers. 


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1 (4) CHAIR.—Members of an independent redis2 tricting commission established under this subsection 

3 shall select by majority vote one member to serve as 

4 chair of the commission. 

5 (5) REPRESENTATION OF VARIOUS DEMO6 GRAPHIC GROUPS.—The membership of a State’s 

7 independent redistricting commission established 

8 under this subsection shall reflect various demo9 graphic groups of the State, including various ages, 

10 races, ethnicities, genders, and individuals from var11 ious geographic regions of the State. Nothing in this 

12 paragraph shall be construed to establish a specific 

13 quota for the number of members of a commission 

14 who are affiliated with any demographic group. 

15 (6) DETERMINATION OF POLITICAL PARTY AF16 FILIATION.—For purposes of this subsection, an in17 dividual shall be considered to be affiliated with a 

18 political party if the individual is registered with the 

19 party with respect to each of the 3 most recent elec20 tions for Federal office occurring prior to the indi21 vidual’s appointment. 

22 (b) ELIGIBILITY.— 

23 (1) POOL OF NOMINEES.— 

24 (A) DEVELOPMENT OF POOL BY GOV25 ERNOR.—The Governor of each State shall deVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:09 Jun 25, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5596.IH H5596

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1 velop a pool of nominees for membership on the 

2 State’s independent redistricting commission 

3 and present that pool to the legislature of the 

4 State. 

5 (B) INDIVIDUALS WITHIN POOL.—The 

6 Governor shall include an individual within the 

7 pool of nominees under this paragraph if— 

8 (i) the individual submits an applica9 tion to the Governor for inclusion in the 

10 pool, at such time as the Governor may re11 quire; and 

12 (ii) the individual meets the criteria 

13 for eligibility under paragraph (2) for serv14 ice as a member of the independent redis15 tricting commission. 

16 (C) PUBLICATION OF NAMES OF APPLI17 CANTS AND REASONS FOR REJECTION OF IN18 CLUSION.—The Governor shall make public— 

19 (i) the name of each individual who 

20 applies to be included in the pool under 

21 this paragraph; 

22 (ii) the name of each individual who is 

23 included in the pool presented to the legis24 lature; and 


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1 (iii) in the case of any individual who 

2 applies to be included in the pool but is not 

3 included in the pool presented to the legis4 lature, the reasons for the failure of the 

5 Governor to include the individual in the 

6 pool. 

7 (D) RIGHT TO REVIEW DECISION NOT TO

8 INCLUDE.—An individual who submits an appli9 cation for inclusion in the pool under this para10 graph and who is not included in the pool pre11 sented to the legislature may file an action in 

12 the United States district court for the district 

13 in which the capital of the State is located for 

14 such declaratory and injunctive relief as may be 

15 appropriate. 

16 (2) IN GENERAL.—An individual is eligible to 

17 serve as a member of an independent redistricting 

18 commission if— 

19 (A) as of the date of appointment, the in20 dividual is registered to vote in elections for 

21 Federal office held in the State, and was reg22 istered to vote in the 2 most recent general 

23 elections for Federal office held in the State; 

24 (B) the individual did not hold public office 

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1 fice, serve as an employee of a political party or 

2 candidate for election for public office or elected 

3 public official, or hold a position as a registered 

4 lobbyist under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 

5 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) or an equivalent 

6 State or local law, at any time during the 10- 

7 year period ending on the December 31 pre8 ceding the date of appointment; 

9 (C) the individual is not an immediate 

10 family member of a candidate for election for 

11 public office or an elected public official; and 

12 (D) the individual certifies that he or she 

13 will not run as a candidate for the office of 

14 Representative in the Congress until after the 

15 next apportionment of Representatives under 

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

17 provide for the fifteenth and subsequent decen18 nial censuses and to provide for an apportion19 ment of Representatives in Congress’’, approved 

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

21 (3) DISCRIMINATION.—The membership of the 

22 Commission shall not be selected in a manner which 

23 results in a denial or abridgement of the right of any 

24 citizen of the United States to vote on account of 

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1 lished if, based on the totality of circumstances, it 

2 is shown that the membership of the Commission is 

3 not equally open to participation by members of a 

4 class of citizens protected by this paragraph in that 

5 its members have less opportunity than other mem6 bers of the electorate to participate in the political 

7 process and to elect representatives of their choice. 

8 (4) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.—In 

9 paragraph (2)(C), the term ‘‘immediate family mem10 ber’’ means, with respect to an individual, a father, 

11 mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, 

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

13 (c) VACANCY.—A vacancy in the commission shall be 

14 filled in the manner in which the original appointment was 

15 made. 

16 (d) DEADLINE.— 

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

18 commission under this section, and the members of 

19 the commission shall appoint the commission’s chair, 

20 not later than the first February 1 which occurs 

21 after the chief executive of a State receives the State 

22 apportionment notice. 

23 (2) APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR REQUIRED PRIOR

24 TO DEVELOPMENT OF REDISTRICTING PLAN.—The 

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1 districting plan for the State under section 5 until 

2 the appointment of the commission’s chair. 

3 (e) REQUIRING MAJORITY APPROVAL FOR AC4 TIONS.—The independent redistricting commission of a 

5 State may not submit a redistricting plan to the State leg6 islature, or take any other action, without the approval 

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

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

9 (f) TERMINATION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The independent redis11 tricting commission of a State shall terminate on the 

12 day after the date of the first regularly scheduled 

13 general election for Federal office which occurs after 

14 the chief executive of the State receives the State 

15 apportionment notice. 

16 (2) PRESERVATION OF RECORDS.—The State 

17 shall ensure that the records of the independent re18 districting commission are retained in the appro19 priate State archive in such manner as may be nec20 essary to enable the State to respond to any civil ac21 tion brought with respect to Congressional redis22 tricting in the State. 


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1 SEC. 5. DEVELOPMENT OF REDISTRICTING PLAN BY INDE2 PENDENT COMMISSION; PUBLIC NOTICE AND 

3 INPUT. 

4 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF REDISTRICTING PLAN.— 

5 (1) CRITERIA.—The independent redistricting 

6 commission of a State shall develop a redistricting 

7 plan for the State in accordance with the following 

8 criteria: 

9 (A) Districts shall comply with the Con10 stitution of the United States and the Voting 

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

12 The plan shall neither disperse nor concentrate 

13 minority populations protected under the Vot14 ing Rights Act in a manner that has an adverse 

15 effect on their ability to elect their candidate of 

16 choice. 

17 (B) District boundaries shall keep commu18 nities of interest to the extent practicable. Com19 munities of interest may be based on, but are 

20 not limited to, trade areas, natural resources, 

21 population density, shared infrastructure, local22 ities with a history of joint governmental co23 operation, and other interests articulated by 

24 residents in governmental forums. 

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1 ticable, and in accordance with Federal con2 stitutional standards. 

3 (D) Districts shall be geographically con4 tiguous. 

5 (E) To the extent practicable, district lines 

6 shall use visible geographic features and shall 

7 remain within geographic boundaries. 

8 (F) To the extent practicable and con9 sistent with subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), (D), 

10 and (E), district lines shall use city and county 

11 boundaries, or undivided census tracts or block 

12 groups. 

13 (G) To the extent practicable, districts 

14 shall be geographically compact. 

15 (2) FACTORS PROHIBITED FROM CONSIDER16 ATION.—In developing the redistricting plan for the 

17 State, the independent redistricting commission may 

18 not take into consideration any of the following fac19 tors, except to the extent necessary to comply with 

20 the Voting Rights Act of 1965: 

21 (A) The voting history of the population of 

22 a Congressional district, except that the com23 mission may take such history into consider24 ation to the extent necessary to comply with 


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1 any State law which requires the establishment 

2 of competitive Congressional districts. 

3 (B) The political party affiliation of the 

4 population of a district. 

5 (C) The residence of incumbent Members 

6 of the House of Representatives in the State. 

7 (3) PUBLIC NOTICE AND INPUT.— 

8 (A) PUBLIC HEARINGS; SOLICITATION OF

9 INPUT FROM PUBLIC.—The commission shall 

10 hold each of its meetings in public, and shall so11 licit and take into consideration comments from 

12 the public in developing the redistricting plan 

13 for the State. The commission shall notify the 

14 public through the publication of notice in 

15 newspapers of general circulation throughout 

16 the State, and through a public Internet site of 

17 the State government, of the time and place of 

18 its meetings, of its solicitation of public com19 ments, and of the means by which the public 

20 should submit comments to the commission. 

21 (B) NOTICE OF PLANS.—At the time the 

22 commission submits a redistricting plan to the 

23 legislature of the State under subsection (b)(1), 

24 the commission shall notify the public through 

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1 eral circulation throughout the State, and shall 

2 publish a detailed version of the plan (including 

3 a map showing each Congressional district es4 tablished under the plan and the voting age 

5 population by race of each such district) on a 

6 public Internet site of the State government. 

7 The commission shall provide such public notice 

8 of any redistricting plan it develops for a min9 imum of four weeks prior to submission of that 

10 plan to the legislature as provided for in sub11 section (b). 

12 (b) SUBMISSION OF PLANS TO LEGISLATURE.— 

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

14 first November 1 which occurs after the chief execu15 tive of the State receives the State apportionment 

16 notice, the commission may submit redistricting 

17 plans developed by the commission under this sec18 tion to the legislature of the State. 

19 (2) CONSIDERATION OF PLAN BY LEGISLA20 TURE.—After receiving any redistricting plan under 

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

22 (A) approve the plan as submitted by the 

23 commission without amendment and forward 

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

25 (B) reject the plan. 


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1 (3) ENACTMENT OF PLAN.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—A redistricting plan de3 veloped by the commission shall be considered 

4 to be enacted into law only if the plan is for5 warded to the chief executive of the State pur6 suant to paragraph (2)(A) and— 

7 (i) the chief executive approves the 

8 plan as forwarded by the legislature with9 out amendment; or 

10 (ii) the chief executive vetoes the plan 

11 and the legislature overrides the veto in ac12 cordance with the applicable law of the 

13 State, except that at no time may the plan 

14 be amended. 

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

16 State in which the chief executive is prohibited 

17 under State law from acting on a redistricting 

18 plan, a redistricting plan developed by the com19 mission shall be considered to be enacted into 

20 law if— 

21 (i) the plan is submitted to the legisla22 ture of the State; and 

23 (ii) the legislature approves the plan 

24 as submitted by the commission without 

25 amendment. 


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1 SEC. 6. SELECTION OF PLAN BY COURTS. 

2 (a) STATE COURT.— 

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

4 a redistricting plan developed by the independent re5 districting commission of a State is not enacted into 

6 law under section 5(b)(3) by the first December 1 

7 which occurs after the chief executive of the State 

8 receives the State apportionment notice, the commis9 sion may submit redistricting plans developed by the 

10 commission in accordance with section 5 to the high11 est court of the State, which may select and publish 

12 one of the submitted plans to serve as the redis13 tricting plan for the State. 

14 (2) NO MODIFICATION OF PLAN PERMITTED.— 

15 The highest court of a State may not modify any re16 districting plan submitted under this subsection. 

17 (b) FEDERAL COURT.— 

18 (1) FAILURE OF STATE COURT TO SELECT

19 PLAN.— 

20 (A) NOTICE TO COURT IF PLAN NOT SE21 LECTED BY STATE COURT.—If a State court to 

22 whom redistricting plans have been submitted 

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

24 serve as the redistricting plan for the State 

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1 tive of the State receives the State apportion2 ment notice, the State shall file a notice with 

3 the United States district court for the district 

4 in which the capital of the State is located. 

5 (B) DEVELOPMENT AND SELECTION OF

6 PLAN BY FEDERAL COURT.—Not later than 30 

7 days after receiving a notice from a State under 

8 subparagraph (A), the court shall develop and 

9 publish a final redistricting plan for the State. 

10 (2) FAILURE OF STATE TO ESTABLISH COMMIS11 SION.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—If a State does not es13 tablish an independent redistricting commission 

14 under section 4 by the first September 1 which 

15 occurs after the chief executive of the State re16 ceives the State apportionment notice— 

17 (i) the State may not establish the 

18 commission; and 

19 (ii) the United States district court 

20 for the district in which the capital of the 

21 State is located shall develop and publish 

22 a final redistricting plan for the State not 

23 later than the first December 1 which oc24 curs after the chief executive of the State 

25 receives the State apportionment notice. 


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1 (B) DETERMINATION OF FAILURE TO ES2 TABLISH COMMISSION.—For purposes of sub3 paragraph (A), a State shall be considered to 

4 have failed to establish an independent redis5 tricting commission by the date referred to in 

6 such subparagraph if a chair of the commission 

7 has not been appointed on or before such date. 

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

9 that, in developing a redistricting plan for a State 

10 under this subsection, the district court should ad11 here to the same terms and conditions that applied 

12 to the development of the plan of the commission 

13 under section 5(a). 

14 (c) ACCESS TO INFORMATION AND RECORDS OF

15 COMMISSION.—A court which is required to select, pub16 lish, or develop a redistricting plan for a State under this 

17 section shall have access to any information, data, soft18 ware, or other records and material used by the inde19 pendent redistricting commission of the State in carrying 

20 out its duties under this Act. 

21 SEC. 7. SPECIAL RULE FOR REDISTRICTING CONDUCTED 

22 UNDER ORDER OF FEDERAL COURT. 

23 If a Federal court requires a State to conduct redis24 tricting subsequent to an apportionment of Representa25 tives in the State in order to comply with the Constitution 


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

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

3 that— 

4 (1) the deadline for the establishment of the 

5 independent redistricting commission and the ap6 pointment of the commission’s chair (as described in 

7 section 4(d)(1)) shall be the expiration of the 30-day 

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

9 the Federal court to conduct the redistricting; 

10 (2) the deadline for the submission of redis11 tricting plans to the legislature by the commission, 

12 and the date of the termination of the commission 

13 (as described in section 4(f)) shall be the expiration 

14 of the 150-day period which begins on the date of 

15 the final order of the Federal court to conduct the 

16 redistricting; 

17 (3) the deadline for the selection and publica18 tion of the plan by the highest court of the State (as 

19 described in section 6(a)) shall be the expiration of 

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

21 final order of the Federal court to conduct the redis22 tricting; and 

23 (4) the deadline for the selection and publica24 tion of the plan by the district court of the United 

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1 piration of the 210-day period which begins on the 

2 date of the final order of the Federal court to con3 duct the redistricting. 

4 SEC. 8. PAYMENTS TO STATES FOR CARRYING OUT REDIS5 TRICTING. 

6 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF PAYMENTS.—Subject to sub7 section (d), not later than 30 days after a State receives 

8 a State apportionment notice, the Election Assistance 

9 Commission shall make a payment to the State in an 

10 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 ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION AS

25 CONDITION OF PAYMENT.—The Election Assistance ComVerDate Mar 15 2010 21:09 Jun 25, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5596.IH H5596

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1 mission may not make a payment to a State under this 

2 section until the State certifies to the Commission that 

3 the State has established an independent redistricting 

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

5 appointed, in accordance with section 4. 

6 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

7 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

8 necessary for payments under this section. 

9 SEC. 9. 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. 10. CIVIL ENFORCEMENT AND PRIVATE RIGHT OF AC19 TION. 

20 (a) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney General 

21 may bring a civil action in an appropriate district court 

22 for such declaratory or injunctive relief as is necessary to 

23 carry out this Act. 

24 (b) AVAILABILITY OF PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 


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1 (1) ACTION CHALLENGING CONTENTS OF STATE

2 REDISTRICTING PLAN.—A person who is aggrieved 

3 by a violation of this Act which consists of the fail4 ure of a State redistricting plan enacted into law 

5 under section 5(b)(3) to be in compliance with para6 graph (1) or paragraph (2) of section 5(a) may 

7 bring a civil action in an appropriate district court 

8 for declaratory or injunctive relief. 

9 (2) OTHER ACTIONS.—A person who is ag10 grieved by a violation of this Act which is not de11 scribed in paragraph (1) may bring a civil action in 

12 an appropriate district court for declaratory or in13 junctive relief with respect to the violation if— 

14 (A) the person provides written notice of 

15 the violation to the chair of the independent re16 districting commission of the State involved; 

17 (B) the violation is not corrected during 

18 the 90-day period which begins on the date of 

19 the receipt of the written notice; and 

20 (C) the person brings the action not later 

21 than 30 days after the expiration of the 90-day 

22 period referred to in clause (ii). 

23 (3) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—No civil action 

24 may be brought under this subsection with respect 

25 to a State after the expiration of the 30-day period 


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1 which begins on the date the State redistricting plan 

2 is enacted into law under section 5(b)(3). 

3 (c) EXPEDITED JUDICIAL REVIEW.—In any action 

4 brought for declaratory or injunctive relief under this sec5 tion, the following rules shall apply: 

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

7 United States district court and shall be heard by a 

8 3-judge court convened pursuant to section 2284 of 

9 title 28, United States Code. 

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

11 brought for relief under subsection (b)(1) with re12 spect to the same State redistricting plan. 

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

14 promptly to the Clerk of the House of Representa15 tives and the Secretary of the Senate. 

16 (4) A final decision in the action shall be re17 viewable only by appeal directly to the Supreme 

18 Court of the United States. Such appeal shall be 

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

20 days, and the filing of a jurisdictional statement 

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

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

23 the Supreme Court of the United States to advance 

24 on the docket and to expedite to the greatest pos25 sible extent the disposition of the action and appeal. 


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1 (d) LOCATION OF COURT.—For purposes of an action 

2 under this section, the appropriate district court shall be 

3 the district court of the United States for the district 

4 which includes the capital of the State involved. 

5 (e) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—In a civil action under this 

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

7 than the United States) reasonable attorney fees, includ8 ing litigation expenses, and costs. 

9 (f) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.—(1) The rights and 

10 remedies established by this section are in addition to all 

11 other rights and remedies provided by law, and neither 

12 the rights and remedies established by this section nor any 

13 other provision of this Act shall supersede, restrict, or 

14 limit the application of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 

15 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.). 

16 (2) Nothing in this Act authorizes or requires con17 duct that is prohibited by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 

18 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.). 

19 SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

20 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

21 become effective upon the date of enactment. 

Æ 


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