stitution gives Congress the power to enact laws to 
enforce section 2 of such amendment, which requires 
Representatives to be apportioned among the several 
States according to their number. 
TITLE 
I—REQUIREMENTS 
FOR 
CONGRESSIONAL 
REDIS-
TRICTING 
SEC. 101. LIMIT ON CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING 
AFTER AN APPORTIONMENT. 
The Act entitled ‘‘An Act for the relief of Doctor Ri-
cardo Vallejo Samala and to provide for congressional re-
districting’’, approved December 14, 1967 (2 U.S.C. 2c), 
is amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘A State 
which has been redistricted in the manner provided by law 
after an apportionment under section 22(a) of the Act en-
titled ‘An Act to provide for the fifteenth and subsequent 
decennial censuses and to provide for an apportionment 
of Representatives in Congress’, approved June 18, 1929 
(2 U.S.C. 2a), may not be redistricted again until after 
the next apportionment of Representatives under such sec-
tion, unless a court requires the State to conduct such 
subsequent redistricting to comply with the Constitution 
or to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 
10301 et seq.).’’. 
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SEC. 102. REQUIRING CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING TO 
BE CONDUCTED THROUGH PLAN OF INDE-
PENDENT STATE COMMISSION. 
(a) USE OF PLAN REQUIRED.—Notwithstanding any 
other provision of law, any Congressional redistricting 
conducted by a State shall be conducted in accordance 
with— 
(1) the redistricting plan developed and enacted 
into law by the independent redistricting commission 
established in the State, in accordance with title II; 
or 
(2) if a plan developed by such commission is 
not enacted into law, the redistricting plan developed 
and enacted into law by a 3-judge court of the 
United States District Court for the District of Co-
lumbia, in accordance with section 301. 
(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 22(c) of 
the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the fifteenth and 
subsequent decennial censuses and to provide for an ap-
portionment of Representatives in Congress’’, approved 
June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a(c)), is amended by striking 
‘‘in the manner provided by the law thereof’’ and insert-
ing: ‘‘in the manner provided by the Redistricting Reform 
Act of 2015’’. 
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TITLE II—INDEPENDENT 
REDISTRICTING COMMISSIONS 
SEC. 201. INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSION. 
(a) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The nonpartisan agency es-
tablished or designated by a State under section 
204(a) shall establish an independent redistricting 
commission for the State, which shall consist of 12 
members appointed by the agency as follows: 
(A) The agency shall appoint 4 members 
on a random basis from the majority category 
of the approved selection pool (as described in 
section 202(b)(1)(A)). 
(B) The agency shall appoint 4 members 
on a random basis from the minority category 
of the approved selection pool (as described in 
section 202(b)(1)(B)). 
(C) The agency shall appoint 4 members 
on a random basis from the independent cat-
egory of the approved selection pool (as de-
scribed in section 202(b)(1)(C)). 
(2) APPOINTMENT OF ALTERNATES TO SERVE 
IN CASE OF VACANCIES.—At the time the agency ap-
points the members of the independent redistricting 
commission under paragraph (1) from each of the 
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categories referred to in such paragraph, the agency 
shall, on a random basis, designate 2 other individ-
uals from such category to serve as alternate mem-
bers who may be appointed to fill vacancies in the 
commission in accordance with paragraph (3). 
(3) VACANCY.—If a vacancy occurs in the com-
mission with respect to a member who was ap-
pointed from one of the categories referred to in 
paragraph (1), the nonpartisan agency shall fill the 
vacancy by appointing, on a random basis, one of 
the 2 alternates from such category who was des-
ignated under paragraph (2). At the time the agency 
appoints an alternate to fill a vacancy under the pre-
vious sentence, the agency shall designate, on a ran-
dom basis, another individual from the same cat-
egory to serve as an alternate member, in accord-
ance with paragraph (2). 
(b) PROCEDURES
FOR CONDUCTING COMMISSION 
BUSINESS.— 
(1) CHAIR.—Members of an independent redis-
tricting commission established under this section 
shall select by majority vote one member who was 
appointed from the independent category of the ap-
proved 
selection 
pool 
described 
in 
section 
202(b)(1)(C) to serve as chair of the commission. 
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The commission may not take any action to develop 
a redistricting plan for the State under section 203 
until the appointment of the commission’s chair. 
(2) REQUIRING MAJORITY APPROVAL FOR AC-
TIONS.—The independent redistricting commission 
of a State may not publish and disseminate any 
draft or final redistricting plan, or take any other 
action, without the approval of at least— 
(A) a majority of the whole membership of 
the commission; and 
(B) at least one member of the commission 
appointed from each of the categories of the ap-
proved selection pool described in section 
202(b)(1). 
(3) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 
the commission shall constitute a quorum. 
(c) STAFF; CONTRACTORS.— 
(1) 
STAFF.—The 
independent 
redistricting 
commission of a State may appoint and set the pay 
of such staff as it considers appropriate, subject to 
State law. 
(2) CONTRACTORS.—The independent redis-
tricting commission of a State may enter into such 
contracts with vendors as it considers appropriate, 
subject to State law, except that any such contract 
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shall be valid only if approved by the vote of a ma-
jority of the members of the commission, including 
at least one member appointed from each of the cat-
egories of the approved selection pool described in 
section 202(b)(1). 
(3) GOAL OF IMPARTIALITY.—The commission 
shall take such steps as it considers appropriate to 
ensure that any staff appointed under this sub-
section, and any vendor with whom the commission 
enters into a contract under this subsection, will 
work in an impartial manner, and may require any 
person who applies for an appointment to a staff po-
sition or for a vendor’s contract with the commission 
to provide information on the person’s history of po-
litical activity (including donations to candidates, po-
litical committees, and political parties) as a condi-
tion of the appointment or the contract. 
(d) TERMINATION.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The independent redis-
tricting commission of a State shall terminate on the 
earlier of— 
(A) June 14 of the following year ending 
in the numeral zero; or 
(B) the day on which the nonpartisan 
agency established or designated by a State 
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under section 204(a) has, in accordance with 
section 202(b)(1), submitted a selection pool to 
the Select Committee on Redistricting for the 
State established under section 204(b). 
(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. 202. ESTABLISHMENT OF SELECTION POOL OF INDI-
VIDUALS ELIGIBLE TO SERVE AS MEMBERS 
OF COMMISSION. 
(a) CRITERIA FOR ELIGIBILITY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—An individual is eligible to 
serve as a member of an independent redistricting 
commission if the individual meets each of the fol-
lowing criteria: 
(A) As of the date of appointment, the in-
dividual is registered to vote in elections for 
Federal office held in the State. 
(B) During the 3-year period ending on 
the date of the individual’s appointment, the in-
dividual has been continuously registered to 
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vote with the same political party, or has not 
been registered to vote with any political party. 
(C) The individual submits to the non-
partisan agency established or designated by a 
State under section 203, at such time and in 
such form as the agency may require, an appli-
cation for inclusion in the selection pool under 
this section, and includes with the application a 
written statement containing the following in-
formation and assurances: 
(i) A statement of the political party 
with which the individual is affiliated, if 
any. 
(ii) An assurance that the individual 
shall commit to carrying out the individ-
ual’s duties under this Act in an honest, 
independent, and impartial fashion, and to 
upholding public confidence in the integrity 
of the redistricting process. 
(iii) An assurance that, during the 
covered periods described in paragraph (3), 
the individual has not taken and will not 
take any action which would disqualify the 
individual from serving as a member of the 
commission under paragraph (2). 
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(2) DISQUALIFICATIONS.—An individual is not 
eligible to serve as a member of the commission if 
any of the following applies during any of the cov-
ered periods described in paragraph (3): 
(A) The individual or (in the case of the 
covered periods described in subparagraphs (A) 
and (B) of paragraph (3)) an immediate family 
member of the individual holds public office or 
is a candidate for election for public office. 
(B) The individual or (in the case of the 
covered periods described in subparagraphs (A) 
and (B) of paragraph (3)) an immediate family 
member of the individual serves as an officer of 
a political party or as an officer, employee, or 
paid consultant of a campaign committee of a 
candidate for public office. 
(C) The individual or (in the case of the 
covered periods described in subparagraphs (A) 
and (B) of paragraph (3)) an immediate family 
member of the individual holds a position as a 
registered lobbyist under the Lobbying Disclo-
sure Act of 1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) or an 
equivalent State or local law. 
(D) The individual or (in the case of the 
covered periods described in subparagraphs (A) 
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and (B) of paragraph (3)) an immediate family 
member of the individual is an employee of an 
elected public official, a contractor with the leg-
islature of the State, or a donor to the cam-
paign of any candidate for public office (other 
than a donor who, during any of such covered 
periods, gives an aggregate amount of $20,000 
or less to the campaigns of all candidates for all 
public offices). 
(3) COVERED
PERIODS
DESCRIBED.—In this 
subsection, the term ‘‘covered period’’ means, with 
respect to the appointment of an individual to the 
commission, any of the following: 
(A) The 5-year period ending on the date 
of the individual’s appointment. 
(B) The period beginning on the date of 
the individual’s appointment and ending on Au-
gust 14 of the next year ending in the numeral 
one. 
(C) The 5-year period beginning on the 
day after the last day of the period described in 
subparagraph (B). 
(4) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.—In 
this subsection, the term ‘‘immediate family mem-
ber’’ means, with respect to an individual, a father, 
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stepfather, mother, stepmother, son, stepson, daugh-
ter, stepdaughter, brother, stepbrother, sister, step-
sister, husband, wife, father-in-law, or mother-in- 
law. 
(b) DEVELOPMENT AND SUBMISSION OF SELECTION 
POOL.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than June 15 of 
each year ending in the numeral zero, the non-
partisan agency established or designated by a State 
under section 204(a) shall develop and submit to the 
Select Committee on Redistricting for the State es-
tablished under section 204(b) a selection pool of 36 
individuals who are eligible to serve as members of 
the independent redistricting commission of the 
State under this Act, consisting of individuals in the 
following categories: 
(A) A majority category, consisting of 12 
individuals who are affiliated with the political 
party with the largest percentage of the reg-
istered voters in the State who are affiliated 
with a political party (as determined with re-
spect to the most recent statewide election for 
Federal office held in the State for which such 
information is available). 
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(B) A minority category, consisting of 12 
individuals who are affiliated with the political 
party with the second largest percentage of the 
registered voters in the State who are affiliated 
with a political party (as so determined). 
(C) An independent category, consisting of 
12 individuals who are not affiliated with either 
of the political parties described in subpara-
graph (A) or subparagraph (B). 
(2) FACTORS TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN DEVEL-
OPING POOL.—In selecting individuals for the selec-
tion pool under this subsection, the nonpartisan 
agency shall— 
(A) to the maximum extent practicable, en-
sure that the pool reflects the representative de-
mographic groups (including races, ethnicities, 
and genders) and geographic regions of the 
State; and 
(B) take into consideration the analytical 
skills of the individuals selected in relevant 
fields (including mapping, data management, 
law, community outreach, demography, and the 
geography of the State) and their ability to 
work on an impartial basis. 
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(3) DETERMINATION OF POLITICAL PARTY AF-
FILIATION OF INDIVIDUALS IN SELECTION POOL.— 
For purposes of this section, an individual shall be 
considered to be affiliated with a political party on 
the basis of the information the individual provides 
in the application submitted under subsection 
(a)(1)(D). 
(4) ENCOURAGING RESIDENTS TO APPLY FOR 
INCLUSION IN POOL.—The nonpartisan agency shall 
take such steps as may be necessary to ensure that 
residents of the State across various geographic re-
gions and demographic groups are aware of the op-
portunity to serve on the independent redistricting 
commission, including publicizing the role of the 
panel and using newspapers, broadcast media, and 
online sources, including ethnic media, to encourage 
individuals to apply for inclusion in the selection 
pool developed under this subsection. 
(5) REPORT
ON
ESTABLISHMENT
OF
SELEC-
TION POOL.—At the time the nonpartisan agency 
submits the selection pool to the Select Committee 
on Redistricting under paragraph (1), it shall pub-
lish a report describing the process by which the 
pool was developed, and shall include in the report 
a description of how the individuals in the pool meet 
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the eligibility criteria of subsection (a) and of how 
the pool reflects the factors the agency is required 
to take into consideration under paragraph (2). 
(6) ACTION BY SELECT COMMITTEE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 14 days 
after receiving the selection pool from the non-
partisan agency under paragraph (1), the Select 
Committee on Redistricting shall— 
(i) approve the pool as submitted by 
the nonpartisan agency, in which case the 
pool shall be considered the approved selec-
tion pool for purposes of section 201(a)(1); 
or 
(ii) reject the pool, in which case the 
nonpartisan agency shall develop and sub-
mit a replacement selection pool in accord-
ance with subsection (c). 
(B) INACTION
DEEMED
REJECTION.—If 
the Select Committee on Redistricting fails to 
approve or reject the pool within the deadline 
set forth in subparagraph (A), the Select Com-
mittee shall be deemed to have rejected the pool 
for purposes of such subparagraph. 
(c) DEVELOPMENT
OF REPLACEMENT SELECTION 
POOL.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Select Committee on 
Redistricting rejects the selection pool submitted by 
the nonpartisan agency under subsection (b), not 
later than 14 days after the rejection, the non-
partisan agency shall develop and submit to the Se-
lect Committee a replacement selection pool, under 
the same terms and conditions that applied to the 
development and submission of the selection pool 
under paragraphs (1) through (5) of subsection (b). 
The replacement pool submitted under this para-
graph may include individuals who were included in 
the rejected selection pool submitted under sub-
section (b), so long as at least one of the individuals 
in the replacement pool was not included in such re-
jected pool. 
(2) ACTION BY SELECT COMMITTEE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 14 days 
after receiving the replacement selection pool 
from the nonpartisan agency under paragraph 
(1), the Select Committee on Redistricting 
shall— 
(i) approve the pool as submitted by 
the nonpartisan agency, in which case the 
pool shall be considered the approved selec-
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tion pool for purposes of section 201(a)(1); 
or 
(ii) reject the pool, in which case the 
nonpartisan agency shall develop and sub-
mit a second replacement selection pool in 
accordance with subsection (d). 
(B) INACTION
DEEMED
REJECTION.—If 
the Select Committee on Redistricting fails to 
approve or reject the pool within the deadline 
set forth in subparagraph (A), the Select Com-
mittee shall be deemed to have rejected the pool 
for purposes of such subparagraph. 
(d) DEVELOPMENT OF SECOND REPLACEMENT SE-
LECTION POOL.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Select Committee on 
Redistricting rejects the replacement selection pool 
submitted by the nonpartisan agency under sub-
section (c), not later than 14 days after the rejec-
tion, the nonpartisan agency shall develop and sub-
mit to the Select Committee a second replacement 
selection pool, under the same terms and conditions 
that applied to the development and submission of 
the selection pool under paragraphs (1) through (5) 
of subsection (b). The second replacement selection 
pool submitted under this paragraph may include in-
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dividuals who were included in the rejected selection 
pool submitted under subsection (b) or the rejected 
replacement selection pool submitted under sub-
section (c), so long as at least one of the individuals 
in the replacement pool was not included in either 
such rejected pool. 
(2) ACTION BY SELECT COMMITTEE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 14 days 
after receiving the second replacement selection 
pool from the nonpartisan agency under para-
graph (1), the Select Committee on Redis-
tricting shall— 
(i) approve the pool as submitted by 
the nonpartisan agency, in which case the 
pool shall be considered the approved selec-
tion pool for purposes of section 201(a)(1); 
or 
(ii) reject the pool, in which case— 
(I) the nonpartisan agency shall 
not develop or submit any other selec-
tion pool for purposes of this Act; and 
(II) the United States District 
Court for the District of Columbia 
shall develop and enact the redis-
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tricting plan for the State, in accord-
ance with section 301. 
(B) INACTION
DEEMED
REJECTION.—If 
the Select Committee on Redistricting fails to 
approve or reject the pool within the deadline 
set forth in subparagraph (A), the Select Com-
mittee shall be deemed to have rejected the pool 
for purposes of such subparagraph. 
SEC. 203. CRITERIA FOR REDISTRICTING PLAN BY INDE-
PENDENT COMMISSION; PUBLIC NOTICE AND 
INPUT. 
(a) 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, prioritized according to the following order: 
(A) Districts shall each have equal popu-
lation per representative as nearly as prac-
ticable, in accordance with the Constitution of 
the United States. 
(B) To the extent not inconsistent with the 
above criteria, districts shall comply with the 
Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et 
seq.). 
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