I 
111TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5596 
To prohibit States from carrying out more than one Congressional redis-
tricting 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 Congres-
sional redistricting after a decennial census and appor-
tionment, to require States to conduct such redistricting 
through independent commissions, and for other pur-
poses. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL 
AUTHORITY. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Redistricting Reform Act of 2010’’. 
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(b) FINDING.—Congress finds that it has the author-
ity to establish the terms and conditions States must fol-
low in carrying out Congressional redistricting after an 
apportionment of Members of the House of Representa-
tives because— 
(1) the authority granted to Congress under ar-
ticle I, section 4 of the Constitution of the United 
States gives Congress the power to enact laws gov-
erning the time, place, and manner of elections for 
Members of the House of Representatives; and 
(2) the authority granted to Congress under 
section 5 of the fourteenth amendment to the Con-
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. 
SEC. 2. 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 
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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 (42 U.S.C. 
1973 et seq.).’’. 
SEC. 3. REQUIRING REDISTRICTING TO BE CONDUCTED 
THROUGH PLAN OF INDEPENDENT STATE 
COMMISSION OR PLAN OF HIGHEST STATE 
COURT. 
(a) USE OF PLAN REQUIRED.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, any Congressional redistricting con-
ducted by a State shall be conducted in accordance 
with— 
(A) the redistricting plan developed by the 
independent redistricting commission estab-
lished in the State, in accordance with section 
5; or 
(B) if the plan developed by such commis-
sion is not enacted into law, the redistricting 
plan selected by the highest court in the State 
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or developed by a United States district court, 
in accordance with section 6. 
(2) OTHER CRITERIA AND PROCEDURES PER-
MITTED.—Nothing in this Act or the amendments 
made by this Act may be construed to prohibit a 
State from conducting Congressional redistricting in 
accordance with such criteria and procedures as the 
State considers appropriate, to the extent that such 
criteria and procedures are consistent with the appli-
cable requirements of this Act and the amendments 
made by this Act. 
(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 2010’’. 
SEC. 4. INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSION. 
(a) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall establish 
an independent redistricting commission composed 
of the following members, each of whom is among 
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unicameral legislature, the independent redistricting 
commission established under this subsection shall 
be composed of the following members, each of 
whom is among the pool of nominees presented to 
the legislature by the Governor of the State under 
subsection (b)(1): 
(A) A number of members who are affili-
ated with the political party with the largest 
percentage of the registered voters in the State 
who are affiliated with a political party and a 
number of members who are affiliated with the 
political party with the second largest percent-
age of the registered voters in the State who 
are affiliated with a political party (as deter-
mined with respect to the most recent State-
wide election for Federal office held in the 
State for which such information is available), 
such that the percentage of the members of the 
commission who are affiliated with each such 
party is (to the greatest extent practicable) 
equal to the percentage of registered voters in 
the State who are affiliated with such party, ap-
pointed with the approval of at least one of the 
following: 
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(i) The leader of the party with the 
greatest number of seats in the legislature. 
(ii) The leader of the party with the 
second greatest number of seats in the leg-
islature. 
(B) A number of members who are not af-
filiated with any of the political parties referred 
to in subparagraph (A), who shall be appointed 
by not fewer than 2⁄3 of the members appointed 
under subparagraph (A), such that the percent-
age of the members of the commission who are 
appointed under this subparagraph is (to the 
greatest extent practicable) equal to the per-
centage of registered voters in the State who 
are not affiliated with any of the political par-
ties referred to in subparagraph (A) (with re-
spect to the most recent statewide election for 
Federal office held in the State for which such 
information is available). 
(3) NUMBER
OF
MEMBERS.—A State’s inde-
pendent redistricting commission established under 
this subsection shall have such number of members 
as the Governor of the State determines, except that 
the commission may not have more than 19 mem-
bers. 
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(4) CHAIR.—Members of an independent redis-
tricting commission established under this subsection 
shall select by majority vote one member to serve as 
chair of the commission. 
(5) REPRESENTATION
OF
VARIOUS
DEMO-
GRAPHIC
GROUPS.—The membership of a State’s 
independent redistricting commission established 
under this subsection shall reflect various demo-
graphic groups of the State, including various ages, 
races, ethnicities, genders, and individuals from var-
ious geographic regions of the State. Nothing in this 
paragraph shall be construed to establish a specific 
quota for the number of members of a commission 
who are affiliated with any demographic group. 
(6) DETERMINATION OF POLITICAL PARTY AF-
FILIATION.—For purposes of this subsection, an in-
dividual shall be considered to be affiliated with a 
political party if the individual is registered with the 
party with respect to each of the 3 most recent elec-
tions for Federal office occurring prior to the indi-
vidual’s appointment. 
(b) ELIGIBILITY.— 
(1) POOL OF NOMINEES.— 
(A) DEVELOPMENT
OF
POOL
BY
GOV-
ERNOR.—The Governor of each State shall de-
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velop a pool of nominees for membership on the 
State’s independent redistricting commission 
and present that pool to the legislature of the 
State. 
(B) INDIVIDUALS
WITHIN
POOL.—The 
Governor shall include an individual within the 
pool of nominees under this paragraph if— 
(i) the individual submits an applica-
tion to the Governor for inclusion in the 
pool, at such time as the Governor may re-
quire; and 
(ii) the individual meets the criteria 
for eligibility under paragraph (2) for serv-
ice as a member of the independent redis-
tricting commission. 
(C) PUBLICATION
OF
NAMES
OF
APPLI-
CANTS AND REASONS FOR REJECTION OF IN-
CLUSION.—The Governor shall make public— 
(i) the name of each individual who 
applies to be included in the pool under 
this paragraph; 
(ii) the name of each individual who is 
included in the pool presented to the legis-
lature; and 
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(iii) in the case of any individual who 
applies to be included in the pool but is not 
included in the pool presented to the legis-
lature, the reasons for the failure of the 
Governor to include the individual in the 
pool. 
(D) RIGHT TO REVIEW DECISION NOT TO 
INCLUDE.—An individual who submits an appli-
cation for inclusion in the pool under this para-
graph and who is not included in the pool pre-
sented to the legislature may file an action in 
the United States district court for the district 
in which the capital of the State is located for 
such declaratory and injunctive relief as may be 
appropriate. 
(2) IN GENERAL.—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-
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fice, serve as an employee of a political party or 
candidate for election for public office or elected 
public official, or hold a position as a registered 
lobbyist under the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 
1995 (2 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) or an equivalent 
State or local law, at any time during the 10- 
year period ending on the December 31 pre-
ceding the date of appointment; 
(C) the individual is not an immediate 
family member of a candidate for election for 
public office or an elected public official; and 
(D) 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). 
(3) DISCRIMINATION.—The membership of the 
Commission shall not be selected in a manner which 
results in a denial or abridgement of the right of any 
citizen of the United States to vote on account of 
race or color. A violation of this paragraph is estab-
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lished if, based on the totality of circumstances, it 
is shown that the membership of the Commission is 
not equally open to participation by members of a 
class of citizens protected by this paragraph in that 
its members have less opportunity than other mem-
bers of the electorate to participate in the political 
process and to elect representatives of their choice. 
(4) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.—In 
paragraph (2)(C), the term ‘‘immediate family mem-
ber’’ means, with respect to an individual, a father, 
mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, husband, 
wife, father-in-law, or mother-in-law. 
(c) VACANCY.—A vacancy in the commission shall be 
filled in the manner in which the original appointment was 
made. 
(d) DEADLINE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—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. 
(2) APPOINTMENT OF CHAIR REQUIRED PRIOR 
TO DEVELOPMENT OF REDISTRICTING PLAN.—The 
commission may not take any action to develop a re-
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districting plan for the State under section 5 until 
the appointment of the commission’s chair. 
(e) 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. 
(f) 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. 
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SEC. 5. DEVELOPMENT OF 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: 
(A) Districts shall comply with the Con-
stitution of the United States and the Voting 
Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.). 
The plan shall neither disperse nor concentrate 
minority populations protected under the Vot-
ing Rights Act in a manner that has an adverse 
effect on their ability to elect their candidate of 
choice. 
(B) District boundaries shall keep commu-
nities of interest to the extent practicable. Com-
munities of interest may be based on, but are 
not limited to, trade areas, natural resources, 
population density, shared infrastructure, local-
ities with a history of joint governmental co-
operation, and other interests articulated by 
residents in governmental forums. 
(C) Districts shall each have equal popu-
lation per representative, to the extent prac-
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ticable, and in accordance with Federal con-
stitutional standards. 
(D) Districts shall be geographically con-
tiguous. 
(E) To the extent practicable, district lines 
shall use visible geographic features and shall 
remain within geographic boundaries. 
(F) To the extent practicable and con-
sistent with subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), (D), 
and (E), district lines shall use city and county 
boundaries, or undivided census tracts or block 
groups. 
(G) To the extent practicable, districts 
shall be geographically compact. 
(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 
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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 OF 
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. The commission shall notify the 
public through the publication of notice in 
newspapers of general circulation throughout 
the State, and through a public Internet site of 
the State government, of the time and place of 
its meetings, of its solicitation of public com-
ments, and of the means by which the public 
should submit comments to the commission. 
(B) NOTICE OF PLANS.—At the time the 
commission submits a redistricting plan to the 
legislature of the State under subsection (b)(1), 
the commission shall notify the public through 
the publication of notice in newspapers of gen-
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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. 
The commission shall provide such public notice 
of any redistricting plan it develops for a min-
imum of four weeks prior to submission of that 
plan to the legislature as provided for in sub-
section (b). 
(b) 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. 
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SEC. 6. 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 5(b)(3) by the first December 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 5 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 31 which occurs after the chief execu-
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(B) DETERMINATION OF FAILURE TO ES-
TABLISH COMMISSION.—For purposes of sub-
paragraph (A), a State shall be considered to 
have failed to establish an independent redis-
tricting commission by the date referred to in 
such subparagraph if a chair of the commission 
has not been appointed on or before such date. 
(3) CRITERIA.—It is the sense of Congress 
that, in developing a redistricting plan for a State 
under this subsection, the district court should ad-
here to the same terms and conditions that applied 
to the development of the plan of the commission 
under section 5(a). 
(c) ACCESS
TO INFORMATION
AND RECORDS
OF 
COMMISSION.—A court which is required to select, pub-
lish, or develop a redistricting plan for a State under this 
section shall have access to any information, data, soft-
ware, or other records and material used by the inde-
pendent redistricting commission of the State in carrying 
out its duties under this Act. 
SEC. 7. SPECIAL RULE FOR REDISTRICTING CONDUCTED 
UNDER ORDER OF FEDERAL COURT. 
If a Federal court requires a State to conduct redis-
tricting subsequent to an apportionment of Representa-
tives in the State in order to comply with the Constitution 
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or to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965, sections 5 
and 6 shall apply with respect to the redistricting, except 
that— 
(1) the deadline for the establishment of the 
independent redistricting commission and the ap-
pointment of the commission’s chair (as described in 
section 4(d)(1)) shall be the expiration of the 30-day 
period which begins on the date of the final order of 
the Federal court to conduct the redistricting; 
(2) the deadline for the submission of redis-
tricting plans to the legislature by the commission, 
and the date of the termination of the commission 
(as described in section 4(f)) shall be the expiration 
of the 150-day period which begins on the date of 
the final order of the Federal court to conduct the 
redistricting; 
(3) the deadline for the selection and publica-
tion of the plan by the highest court of the State (as 
described in section 6(a)) shall be the expiration of 
the 180-day period which begins on the date of the 
final order of the Federal court to conduct the redis-
tricting; and 
(4) the deadline for the selection and publica-
tion of the plan by the district court of the United 
States (as described in section 6(b)) shall be the ex-
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piration of the 210-day period which begins on the 
date of the final order of the Federal court to con-
duct the redistricting. 
SEC. 8. PAYMENTS TO STATES FOR CARRYING OUT REDIS-
TRICTING. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION OF PAYMENTS.—Subject to sub-
section (d), not later than 30 days after a State receives 
a State apportionment notice, the Election Assistance 
Commission shall make a payment to the State in an 
amount equal to the product of— 
(1) the number of Representatives to which the 
State is entitled, as provided under the notice; and 
(2) $150,000. 
(b) USE OF FUNDS.—A State shall use the payment 
made under this section to establish and operate the 
State’s independent redistricting commission, to imple-
ment the State redistricting plan, and to otherwise carry 
out Congressional redistricting in the State. 
(c) NO PAYMENT TO STATES WITH SINGLE MEM-
BER.—The Election Assistance Commission shall not 
make a payment under this section to any State which 
is not entitled to more than one Representative under its 
State apportionment notice. 
(d) REQUIRING ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION AS 
CONDITION OF PAYMENT.—The Election Assistance Com-
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mission may not make a payment to a State under this 
section until the State certifies to the Commission that 
the State has established an independent redistricting 
commission, and that a chair of the commission has been 
appointed, in accordance with section 4. 
(e) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary for payments under this section. 
SEC. 9. STATE APPORTIONMENT NOTICE DEFINED. 
In this Act, the ‘‘State apportionment notice’’ means, 
with respect to a State, the notice sent to the State from 
the Clerk of the House of Representatives under section 
22(b) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for the fif-
teenth and subsequent decennial censuses and to provide 
for an apportionment of Representatives in Congress’’, ap-
proved June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a), of the number of 
Representatives to which the State is entitled. 
SEC. 10. CIVIL ENFORCEMENT AND PRIVATE RIGHT OF AC-
TION. 
(a) ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attorney General 
may bring a civil action in an appropriate district court 
for such declaratory or injunctive relief as is necessary to 
carry out this Act. 
(b) AVAILABILITY OF PRIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 
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(1) ACTION CHALLENGING CONTENTS OF STATE 
REDISTRICTING PLAN.—A person who is aggrieved 
by a violation of this Act which consists of the fail-
ure of a State redistricting plan enacted into law 
under section 5(b)(3) to be in compliance with para-
graph (1) or paragraph (2) of section 5(a) may 
bring a civil action in an appropriate district court 
for declaratory or injunctive relief. 
(2) OTHER
ACTIONS.—A person who is ag-
grieved by a violation of this Act which is not de-
scribed in paragraph (1) may bring a civil action in 
an appropriate district court for declaratory or in-
junctive relief with respect to the violation if— 
(A) the person provides written notice of 
the violation to the chair of the independent re-
districting commission of the State involved; 
(B) the violation is not corrected during 
the 90-day period which begins on the date of 
the receipt of the written notice; and 
(C) the person brings the action not later 
than 30 days after the expiration of the 90-day 
period referred to in clause (ii). 
(3) STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS.—No civil action 
may be brought under this subsection with respect 
to a State after the expiration of the 30-day period 
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which begins on the date the State redistricting plan 
is enacted into law under section 5(b)(3). 
(c) EXPEDITED JUDICIAL REVIEW.—In any action 
brought for declaratory or injunctive relief under this sec-
tion, the following rules shall apply: 
(1) The action shall be filed in the appropriate 
United States district court and shall be heard by a 
3-judge court convened pursuant to section 2284 of 
title 28, United States Code. 
(2) The 3-judge court shall consolidate actions 
brought for relief under subsection (b)(1) with re-
spect to the same State redistricting plan. 
(3) A copy of the complaint shall be delivered 
promptly to the Clerk of the House of Representa-
tives and the Secretary of the Senate. 
(4) A final decision in the action shall be re-
viewable only by appeal directly to the Supreme 
Court of the United States. Such appeal shall be 
taken by the filing of a notice of appeal within 10 
days, and the filing of a jurisdictional statement 
within 30 days, of the entry of the final decision. 
(5) It shall be the duty of the district court and 
the Supreme Court of the United States to advance 
on the docket and to expedite to the greatest pos-
sible extent the disposition of the action and appeal. 
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(d) LOCATION OF COURT.—For purposes of an action 
under this section, the appropriate district court shall be 
the district court of the United States for the district 
which includes the capital of the State involved. 
(e) ATTORNEY’S FEES.—In a civil action under this 
section, the court may allow the prevailing party (other 
than the United States) reasonable attorney fees, includ-
ing litigation expenses, and costs. 
(f) RELATION TO OTHER LAWS.—(1) The rights and 
remedies established by this section are in addition to all 
other rights and remedies provided by law, and neither 
the rights and remedies established by this section nor any 
other provision of this Act shall supersede, restrict, or 
limit the application of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 
U.S.C. 1973 et seq.). 
(2) Nothing in this Act authorizes or requires con-
duct that is prohibited by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 
(42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.). 
SEC. 11. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall 
become effective upon the date of enactment. 
Æ 
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