second greatest number of seats in that 
house. 
(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR STATES WITH UNICAM-
ERAL LEGISLATURE.—In the case of a State with a 
unicameral legislature, the independent redistricting 
commission established under this subsection shall 
be composed of— 
(A) a chair, who shall be appointed by ma-
jority vote of the other members of the commis-
sion; and 
(B) an equal number of members (but not 
fewer than 2) from each of the following cat-
egories: 
(i) Members appointed by a member 
of the legislature who shall be selected by 
the chair of the Government Affairs Com-
mittee of the legislature to represent the 
State political party whose candidate for 
chief executive of the State received the 
greatest number of votes on average in the 
3 most recent general elections for that of-
fice. 
(ii) Members appointed by a member 
of the legislature who shall be selected by 
the chair of the Government Affairs Com-
mittee of the legislature to represent the 
State political party whose candidate for 
chief executive of the State received the 
second greatest number of votes on aver-
age in the 3 most recent general elections 
for that office. 
(3) ELIGIBILITY.—An individual is eligible to 
serve as a member of an independent redistricting 
commission if— 
(A) as of the date of appointment, the in-
dividual is registered to vote in elections for 
Federal office held in the State, and was reg-
istered to vote in the 2 most recent general 
elections for Federal office held in the State; 
(B) the individual did not hold public office 
or run as a candidate for election for public of-
fice, or serve as an employee of a political party 
or candidate for election for public office, at 
any time during the 4-year period ending on the 
December 31 preceding the date of appoint-
ment; and 
(C) the individual certifies that he or she 
will not run as a candidate for the office of 
Representative in the Congress until after the 
next apportionment of Representatives under
section 22(a) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to 
provide for the fifteenth and subsequent decen-
nial censuses and to provide for an apportion-
ment of Representatives in Congress’’, approved 
June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a). 
(4) VACANCY.—A vacancy in the commission 
shall be filled in the manner in which the original 
appointment was made. 
(5) DEADLINE.—Each State shall establish a 
commission under this section, and the members of 
the commission shall appoint the commission’s chair, 
not later than the first February 1 which occurs 
after the chief executive of a State receives the State 
apportionment notice. 
(6) APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR REQUIRED PRIOR 
TO DEVELOPMENT OF REDISTRICTING PLAN.—The 
commission may not take any action to develop a re-
districting plan for the State under subsection (b) 
until the appointment of the commission’s chair in 
accordance with paragraph (1)(E). 
(b) DEVELOPMENT OF REDISTRICTING PLAN.— 
(1) CRITERIA.—The independent redistricting 
commission of a State shall develop a redistricting 
plan for the State in accordance with the following 
criteria:
(A) Adherence to the ‘‘one person, one 
vote’’ standard and other requirements imposed 
under the Constitution of the United States. 
(B) To the greatest extent mathematically 
possible, ensuring that the population of each 
Congressional district in the State does not 
vary from the population of any other Congres-
sional district in the State (as determined on 
the basis of the total count of persons of the 
most recent decennial census conducted by the 
Bureau of the Census). 
(C) Consistency with any applicable re-
quirements of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 
and other Federal laws. 
(D) To the greatest extent practicable, the 
maintenance of the geographic continuity of the 
political subdivisions of the State which are in-
cluded in the same Congressional district, in the 
following order of priority: 
(i) The continuity of counties or par-
ishes. 
(ii) The continuity of municipalities. 
(iii) The continuity of neighborhoods 
(as determined on the basis of census 
tracts or other relevant information).
(E) To the greatest extent practicable, 
maintaining compact districts (in accordance 
with such standards as the commission may es-
tablish). 
(F) Ensuring that districts are contiguous 
(except to the extent necessary to include any 
area which is surrounded by a body of water). 
(2) FACTORS
PROHIBITED
FROM
CONSIDER-
ATION .—In developing the redistricting plan for the 
State, the independent redistricting commission may 
not take into consideration any of the following fac-
tors, except to the extent necessary to comply with 
the Voting Rights Act of 1965: 
(A) The voting history of the population of 
a Congressional district, except that the com-
mission may take such history into consider-
ation to the extent necessary to comply with 
any State law which requires the establishment 
of competitive Congressional districts. 
(B) The political party affiliation of the 
population of a district. 
(C) The residence of incumbent Members 
of the House of Representatives in the State. 
(3) PUBLIC NOTICE AND INPUT.—
(A) 
PUBLIC
HEARINGS; 
SOLICITATION 
INPUT
FROM
PUBLIC.—The commission shall 
hold each of its meetings in public, and shall so-
licit and take into consideration comments from 
the public in developing the redistricting plan 
for the State. 
(B) NOTICE OF PLANS.—At the time the 
commission submits a redistricting plan to the 
legislature of the State under subsection (c)(1), 
the commission shall notify the public through 
the publication of notice in newspapers of gen-
eral circulation throughout the State, and shall 
publish a detailed version of the plan (including 
a map showing each Congressional district es-
tablished under the plan and the voting age 
population by race of each such district) on a 
public Internet site of the State government. 
(c) SUBMISSION OF PLANS TO LEGISLATURE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—At any time prior to the 
first November 1 which occurs after the chief execu-
tive of the State receives the State apportionment 
notice, the commission may submit redistricting 
plans developed by the commission under this sec-
tion to the legislature of the State.
(2) CONSIDERATION
OF
PLAN
BY
LEGISLA-
TURE.—After receiving any redistricting plan under 
paragraph (1), the legislature of a State may— 
(A) approve the plan as submitted by the 
commission without amendment and forward 
the plan to the chief executive of the State; or 
(B) reject the plan. 
(3) ENACTMENT OF PLAN.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—A redistricting plan de-
veloped by the commission shall be considered 
to be enacted into law only if the plan is for-
warded to the chief executive of the State pur-
suant to paragraph (2)(A) and— 
(i) the chief executive approves the 
plan as forwarded by the legislature with-
out amendment; or 
(ii) the chief executive vetoes the plan 
and the legislature overrides the veto in ac-
cordance with the applicable law of the 
State, except that at no time may the plan 
be amended. 
(B) SPECIAL
RULE.—In the case of a 
State in which the chief executive is prohibited 
under State law from acting on a redistricting 
plan, a redistricting plan developed by the com-
mission shall be considered to be enacted into 
law if— 
(i) the plan is submitted to the legisla-
ture of the State; and 
(ii) the legislature approves the plan 
as submitted by the commission without 
amendment. 
(d) REQUIRING
MAJORITY
APPROVAL
FOR
AC-
TIONS.—The independent redistricting commission of a 
State may not submit a redistricting plan to the State leg-
islature, or take any other action, without the approval 
of at least a majority of its members given at a meeting 
at which at least a majority of its members are present. 
(e) TERMINATION.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The independent redis-
tricting commission of a State shall terminate on the 
day after the date of the first regularly scheduled 
general election for Federal office which occurs after 
the chief executive of the State receives the State 
apportionment notice. 
(2) PRESERVATION
OF
RECORDS.—The State 
shall ensure that the records of the independent re-
districting commission are retained in the appro-
priate State archive in such manner as may be nec-
essary to enable the State to respond to any civil ac-
tion brought with respect to Congressional redis-
tricting in the State. 
SEC. 5. SELECTION OF PLAN BY COURTS. 
(a) STATE COURT.— 
(1) SUBMISSION AND SELECTION OF PLAN.—If 
a redistricting plan developed by the independent re-
districting commission of a State is not enacted into 
law under section 4(c)(3) by the first November 1 
which occurs after the chief executive of the State 
receives the State apportionment notice, the commis-
sion may submit redistricting plans developed by the 
commission in accordance with section 4 to the high-
est court of the State, which may select and publish 
one of the submitted plans to serve as the redis-
tricting plan for the State. 
(2) NO MODIFICATION OF PLAN PERMITTED.— 
The highest court of a State may not modify any re-
districting plan submitted under this subsection. 
(b) FEDERAL COURT.— 
(1) FAILURE
OF
STATE
COURT
TO
SELECT 
PLAN.— 
(A) NOTICE TO COURT IF PLAN NOT SE-
LECTED BY STATE COURT.—If a State court to 
whom redistricting plans have been submitted 
under subsection (a) does not select a plan to
serve as the redistricting plan for the State 
under such subsection on or before the first De-
cember 1 which occurs after the chief executive 
of the State receives the State apportionment 
notice, the State shall file a notice with the 
United States district court for the district in 
which the capital of the State is located. 
(B) DEVELOPMENT
AND
SELECTION
OF 
PLAN BY FEDERAL COURT.—Not later than 30 
days after receiving a notice from a State under 
subparagraph (A), the court shall develop and 
publish a final redistricting plan for the State. 
(2) FAILURE OF STATE TO ESTABLISH COMMIS-
SION.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—If a State does not es-
tablish an independent redistricting commission 
under section 4 by the first September 1 which 
occurs after the chief executive of the State re-
ceives the State apportionment notice— 
(i) the State may not establish the 
commission; and 
(ii) the United States district court 
for the district in which the capital of the 
State is located shall develop and publish 
a final redistricting plan for the State not