I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 713 

To require States to carry out Congressional redistricting in accordance 

with a process under which members of the public are informed of 

redistricting proposals and have the opportunity to participate in the 

development of such proposals prior to their adoption, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 27, 2017 

Mr. COOPER (for himself, Mr. PETERSON, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. COSTA, Mr. 

SCHRADER, Mrs. MURPHY of Florida, and Mr. O’HALLERAN) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To require States to carry out Congressional redistricting 

in accordance with a process under which members of 

the public are informed of redistricting proposals and 

have the opportunity to participate in the development 

of such proposals prior to their adoption, 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, 

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL 

2 AUTHORITY. 

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

4 ‘‘Redistricting Transparency Act of 2017’’. 

5 (b) FINDING.—Congress finds that it has the author6 ity to require States to follow certain procedures in car7 rying out Congressional redistricting after an apportion8 ment of Members of the House of Representatives be9 cause— 

10 (1) the authority granted to Congress under ar11 ticle I, section 4 of the Constitution of the United 

12 States gives Congress the power to enact laws gov13 erning the time, place, and manner of elections for 

14 Members of the House of Representatives; and 

15 (2) the authority granted to Congress under 

16 section 5 of the fourteenth amendment to the Con17 stitution gives Congress the power to enact laws to 

18 enforce section 2 of such amendment, which requires 

19 Representatives to be apportioned among the several 

20 States according to their number. 

21 SEC. 2. REQUIRING REDISTRICTING TO BE CONDUCTED 

22 UNDER PROCEDURES PROVIDING OPPOR23 TUNITY FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION. 

24 (a) REQUIREMENT.— 

25 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

26 provision of law, any Congressional redistricting conmstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS

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1 ducted by a State shall be conducted in accordance 

2 with a process under which the entity responsible for 

3 developing Congressional redistricting plans in the 

4 State (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘State 

5 redistricting entity’’)— 

6 (A) in accordance with section 3, estab7 lishes and operates an Internet site; 

8 (B) in accordance with section 4, provides 

9 opportunities for participation by members of 

10 the public in the initial development of such 

11 plans; 

12 (C) in accordance with section 5, provides 

13 opportunities for members of the public to re14 spond to the proposed final Congressional redis15 tricting plan; and 

16 (D) in accordance with section 6, notifies 

17 members of the public regarding the final Con18 gressional redistricting plan adopted for the 

19 State. 

20 (2) OTHER PROCEDURES PERMITTED.—Noth21 ing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act 

22 may be construed to prohibit a State from con23 ducting Congressional redistricting in accordance 

24 with such procedures as the State considers appro25 priate, to the extent that such procedures are conmstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS

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1 sistent with the applicable requirements of this Act 

2 and the amendments made by this Act. 

3 (3) NO EFFECT ON REDISTRICTING FOR STATE

4 OR LOCAL ELECTIONS.—Nothing in this Act or the 

5 amendments made by this Act may be construed to 

6 affect any procedures a State or a unit of local gov7 ernment in a State may use to conduct redistricting 

8 with respect to elections for State or local offices. 

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

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

11 subsequent decennial censuses and to provide for an ap12 portionment of Representatives in Congress’’, approved 

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

14 ‘‘in the manner provided by the law thereof’’ and insert15 ing: ‘‘in a manner consistent with the requirements of the 

16 Redistricting Transparency Act of 2017’’. 

17 SEC. 3. PUBLIC INTERNET SITE FOR STATE REDISTRICTING 

18 ENTITY. 

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF SITE.— 

20 Each State redistricting entity shall establish and main21 tain a public Internet site which meets the following re22 quirements: 

23 (1) The site is updated continuously to provide 

24 advance notice of meetings held by the entity and to 

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1 otherwise provide timely information on the entity’s 

2 activities. 

3 (2) The site contains the most recent available 

4 information from the Bureau of the Census on vot5 ing-age population, voter registration, and voting re6 sults in the State, including precinct-level and cen7 sus tract-level data with respect to such information, 

8 as well as detailed maps reflecting such information. 

9 (3) The site permits any individual to submit 

10 comments on any plan proposed by the entity, and 

11 to submit questions, comments, and other informa12 tion with respect to the entity’s activities. 

13 (4) The site includes any other information the 

14 entity is required to post under this Act. 

15 (b) DEADLINE FOR POSTING OF COMMENTS SUB16 MITTED BY PUBLIC.—The State redistricting entity shall 

17 ensure that any comment submitted by a member of the 

18 public to the site established under this section, including 

19 a comment on any plan proposed by the entity or any 

20 other person, and any other comment relating to Congres21 sional redistricting in the State, is posted on the site not 

22 later than 72 hours after submission. 

23 (c) UPDATING OF INFORMATION.—The State redis24 tricting entity shall take all actions necessary to ensure 

25 that the site established under this section is updated conmstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS

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1 tinuously to provide timely advance notice of the entity’s 

2 meetings and to otherwise provide timely information on 

3 the entity’s activities. 

4 (d) DEADLINE.—The State redistricting entity shall 

5 establish the site under this section as soon as practicable 

6 after the completion of the regular decennial census, but 

7 in no case later than the final deadline provided under 

8 section 22(b) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for 

9 the fifteenth and subsequent decennial censuses and to 

10 provide for an apportionment of Representatives in Con11 gress’’, approved June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a), for the 

12 Clerk of the House of Representatives to transmit to the 

13 State the notice of the number of Representatives to which 

14 the State is entitled in the following Congress. 

15 SEC. 4. OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARTICIPATION IN INITIAL 

16 DEVELOPMENT OF CONGRESSIONAL REDIS17 TRICTING PLANS. 

18 During the 60-day period which begins on the date 

19 the State receives the notice referred to in section 3(d), 

20 the State redistricting entity shall solicit the input of 

21 members of the public in its work to develop initial Con22 gressional redistricting plans for the State by carrying out 

23 the following activities: 

24 (1) Publishing and posting on the Internet site 

25 established under section 3 the criteria which the enmstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS

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1 tity will use to develop the Congressional redis2 tricting plan for the State. 

3 (2) Holding at least one hearing in the State at 

4 which members of the public may provide comments 

5 on such criteria and any other issues relating to 

6 Congressional redistricting in the State. 

7 (3) Publishing and posting the transcript of 

8 each such hearing, or posting a link to a video re9 cording of each such hearing, on the Internet site 

10 not later than 7 days after the conclusion of the 

11 hearing. 

12 SEC. 5. OPPORTUNITIES TO RESPOND TO PROPOSED FINAL 

13 CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING PLAN 

14 ADOPTED BY REDISTRICTING ENTITY. 

15 (a) NOTICE OF FINAL PLAN.—Not later than 10 

16 days prior to adopting a final Congressional redistricting 

17 plan for the State, the State redistricting entity shall post 

18 on the Internet site established under section 3 (and, if 

19 practicable, cause to have published in newspapers of gen20 eral circulation throughout the State) the following infor21 mation: 

22 (1) A detailed version of the proposed final 

23 plan, including— 

24 (A) a map showing each Congressional dis25 trict established under the plan; 

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1 (B) a statement of the voting age popu2 lation by race and membership in a language 

3 minority group of each such district; and 

4 (C) a statement of the number of reg5 istered voters in each such district, broken 

6 down by political party affiliation to the extent 

7 that such information is available under State 

8 law. 

9 (2) A statement explaining the entity’s reasons 

10 for adopting the proposed final plan and the reasons 

11 why the adoption of the plan will best serve the pub12 lic interest. 

13 (3) Any dissenting statement of any member of 

14 the entity who did not approve the proposed final 

15 plan. 

16 (4) A statement that members of the public 

17 may submit comments regarding the proposed final 

18 plan through the Internet site, together with infor19 mation on how members of the public may submit 

20 such comments to the entity through other methods. 

21 (b) PUBLIC HEARING PRIOR TO ADOPTION OF FINAL

22 PLAN.—Not later than 7 days prior to adopting the final 

23 Congressional redistricting plan for the State, the State 

24 redistricting entity shall hold at least one hearing in the 

25 State at which members of the public may provide commstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS

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1 ments on the plan and members of the entity may explain 

2 the reasons why the adoption of the plan will best serve 

3 the public interest. The entity shall publish and post the 

4 transcript of each such hearing, or post a link to a video 

5 recording of each such hearing, on the Internet site estab6 lished under section 3. 

7 (c) TREATMENT OF AMENDED AND NEW PLANS.— 

8 If, in response to public comment or for any other reason, 

9 the State redistricting entity posts an amended version of 

10 the proposed final Congressional redistricting plan which 

11 is posted on the Internet site under subsection (a) or posts 

12 a new proposed final Congressional redistricting plan, sub13 sections (a) and (b) shall apply with respect to the amend14 ed version of the plan or the new plan in the same manner 

15 as such subsections apply with respect to the proposed 

16 final plan which is first posted under subsection (a), ex17 cept to the extent that the application of such subsections 

18 would require the entity to violate a deadline established 

19 by State law for the submission of a final Congressional 

20 redistricting plan to the State legislature. 

21 SEC. 6. NOTICE OF FINAL ADOPTED CONGRESSIONAL RE22 DISTRICTING PLAN. 

23 Not later than 7 days after the State redistricting 

24 entity adopts the final Congressional redistricting plan for 

25 the State, the entity shall post on the Internet site estabmstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with BILLS

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1 lished under section 3 (and, if practicable, cause to have 

2 published in newspapers of general circulation throughout 

3 the State) the following information: 

4 (1) A detailed version of the plan, including— 

5 (A) a map showing each Congressional dis6 trict established under the plan; 

7 (B) a statement for each such district of 

8 the total population and voting age population 

9 by race and membership in a language minority 

10 group; and 

11 (C) a statement of the number of reg12 istered voters in each such district, broken 

13 down by political party affiliation to the extent 

14 that such information is available under State 

15 law. 

16 (2) To the extent that the State maintains data 

17 on the number of registered voters by race and 

18 membership in a language minority group, a state19 ment for each such district of the number of reg20 istered voters by race and membership in a language 

21 minority group. 

22 (3) A statement explaining the entity’s reasons 

23 for adopting the plan and the reasons why the adop24 tion of the plan will best serve the public interest. 

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1 (4) Any dissenting statements of any members 

2 of the entity who did not approve the plan. 

3 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

4 This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 

5 apply with respect to any Congressional redistricting 

6 which occurs after the regular decennial census conducted 

7 during 2020. 

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