I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2978 
To require States to conduct Congressional redistricting through independent 
commissions, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 2, 2013 
Mr. LOWENTHAL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To require States to conduct Congressional redistricting 
through independent commissions, and for other purposes. 
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 
‘‘Let the People Draw the Lines Act of 2013’’. 
(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 
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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 
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 
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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 CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING TO 
BE CONDUCTED THROUGH PLAN OF INDE-
PENDENT STATE COMMISSION. 
(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 and 
enacted into law by the independent redis-
tricting commission established in the State, in 
accordance with section 5; or 
(B) if a plan developed by such commission 
is not enacted into law, the redistricting plan 
selected by the highest court in the State or de-
veloped by a United States district court, in ac-
cordance with section 6. 
(2) EXCEPTION FOR STATES USING EXISTING 
NONPARTISAN INDEPENDENT COMMISSIONS.— 
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(A) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) does not 
apply to a State in which, under law that is in 
effect continuously on and after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, Congressional redis-
tricting is conducted in accordance with a plan 
developed by a nonpartisan independent com-
mission. 
(B) NONPARTISAN
INDEPENDENT
STA-
TUS.—For purposes of this paragraph, a com-
mission shall be considered to be a nonpartisan 
independent commission if the number of its 
members 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) is equal to the number 
of its members who are affiliated with the polit-
ical party with the second largest percentage of 
the registered voters in the State who are affili-
ated with a political party (as so determined). 
(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-
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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 Let the People Draw 
the Lines Act of 2013’’. 
SEC. 4. INDEPENDENT REDISTRICTING COMMISSION. 
(a) APPOINTMENT OF MEMBERS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Each State shall establish 
an independent redistricting commission composed 
of 14 members appointed as follows: 
(A) 5 members from the final majority se-
lection pool (as described in subparagraph (A) 
of subsection (b)(4)), of whom— 
(i) 2 shall be appointed by the leader 
of the party in the upper house of the 
State legislature whose members are affili-
ated with the same political party as the 
individuals in such pool; 
(ii) 2 shall be appointed by the leader 
of the party in the lower house of the State 
legislature whose members are affiliated 
with the same political party as the indi-
viduals in such pool; and 
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(iii) 1 shall be appointed on a random 
basis by the selection panel described in 
subsection (b)(1). 
(B) 5 members from the final minority se-
lection pool (as described in subparagraph (B) 
of subsection (b)(4)), of whom— 
(i) 2 shall be appointed by the leader 
of the party in the upper house of the 
State legislature whose members are affili-
ated with the same political party as the 
individuals in such pool; 
(ii) 2 shall be appointed by the leader 
of the party in the lower house of the State 
legislature whose members are affiliated 
with the same political party as the indi-
viduals in such pool; and 
(iii) 1 shall be appointed on a random 
basis by the selection panel described in 
subsection (b)(1). 
(C) 4 members from the final independent 
selection pool (as described in subparagraph (C) 
of subsection (b)(4)), each of whom shall be ap-
pointed on a random basis by the selection 
panel described in subsection (b)(1). 
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(2) SPECIAL RULE FOR STATES WITH UNICAM-
ERAL LEGISLATURE.—In the case of a State with a 
unicameral legislature— 
(A) the appointments referred to in clauses 
(i) and (ii) of paragraph (1)(A) shall be made 
by the leader of the party in the legislature 
whose members are affiliated with the same po-
litical party as the individuals in the final ma-
jority selection pool; and 
(B) the appointments referred to in clauses 
(i) and (ii) of paragraph (1)(B) shall be made 
by the leader of the party in the legislature 
whose members are affiliated with the same po-
litical party as the individuals in the final mi-
nority selection pool. 
(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF SELECTION POOLS.— 
(1) INITIAL POOL OF NOMINEES.— 
(A) DEVELOPMENT OF POOL BY PANEL OF 
RETIRED JUDGES.—Not later than January 1 
of each year in which a decennial census is con-
ducted, the highest court of each State shall ap-
point a panel of retired judges of courts of the 
State (hereafter referred to as the ‘‘selection 
panel’’) to develop an initial pool of individuals 
who are eligible to serve as members of the 
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independent redistricting commission of the 
State under this Act. 
(B) ENCOURAGING RESIDENTS TO APPLY 
FOR INCLUSION IN POOL.—The selection panel 
shall take such steps as may be necessary to en-
sure that residents of the State across various 
geographic regions and demographic groups are 
aware of the opportunity to serve on the com-
mission, including publicizing the role of the 
panel and using newspapers, broadcast media, 
and online sources to encourage individuals to 
apply for inclusion in the initial pool developed 
under this paragraph. 
(C) INDIVIDUALS WITHIN POOL.—The se-
lection panel shall include an individual within 
the initial pool of eligible individuals under this 
paragraph if— 
(i) the individual submits an applica-
tion to the panel for inclusion in the pool, 
at such time as the panel may require; and 
(ii) the individual meets the criteria 
for eligibility under subsection (c) for serv-
ice as a member of the independent redis-
tricting commission. 
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(D) PUBLICATION
OF
NAMES
OF
APPLI-
CANTS AND REASONS FOR REJECTION OF IN-
CLUSION.—Not later than the first August 10 
occurring after its appointment, the selection 
panel shall make public— 
(i) the name of each individual who 
applies to be included in the initial pool 
under this paragraph; and 
(ii) in the case of any individual who 
applies to be included in the pool but is not 
so included, the reasons for the failure of 
the panel to include the individual in the 
pool. 
(2) INTERMEDIATE SELECTION POOL.— 
(A) SELECTIONS
FROM
INITIAL
POOL.— 
Not later than the first October 1 occurring 
after its appointment, the selection panel shall 
establish and present to the legislature of the 
State an intermediate selection pool of 60 indi-
viduals 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: 
(i) A majority category, consisting of 
20 individuals who are affiliated with the 
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political party with the largest percentage 
of the registered voters in the State who 
are affiliated with a political party (as de-
termined with respect to the most recent 
Statewide election for Federal office held 
in the State for which such information is 
available). 
(ii) A minority category, consisting of 
20 individuals who are affiliated with the 
political party with the second largest per-
centage of the registered voters in the 
State who are affiliated with a political 
party (as so determined). 
(iii) An independent category, con-
sisting of 20 individuals who are not affili-
ated with either of the political parties de-
scribed in clause (i) or clause (ii). 
(B) FACTORS
TAKEN
INTO
ACCOUNT
IN 
ESTABLISHING POOL.—In selecting individuals 
for the intermediate selection pool under this 
paragraph, the selection panel shall take into 
consideration the analytical skills of the individ-
uals selected, their ability to work on an impar-
tial basis, and the need for the pool to reflect 
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the representative demographic groups and geo-
graphic regions of the State. 
(C) DETERMINATION OF POLITICAL PARTY 
AFFILIATION.—For purposes of this section, an 
individual shall be considered to be affiliated 
with a political party if the individual has been 
continuously registered to vote with the party 
during the 3-year period ending on the date of 
the individual’s appointment. 
(3) REMOVAL
OF
INDIVIDUALS
FROM
INTER-
MEDIATE SELECTION POOL BY LEADERS OF LEGIS-
LATURE.— 
(A) REMOVAL.—Not later than the first 
November 15 occurring after the appointment 
of the selection panel, each of the following in-
dividuals may reduce the number of individuals 
in the intermediate selection pool under para-
graph (2)(A) by removing not more than 2 indi-
viduals from each of the 3 categories described 
in such paragraph: 
(i) The leader of the party with the 
greatest number of seats in the upper 
house of the State legislature. 
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(ii) The leader of the party with the 
greatest number of seats in the lower 
house of the State legislature. 
(iii) The leader of the party with the 
second greatest number of seats in the 
upper house of the State legislature. 
(iv) The leader of the party with the 
second greatest number of seats in the 
lower house of the State legislature. 
(B) SPECIAL RULE FOR STATES WITH UNI-
CAMERAL
LEGISLATURE.—In the case of a 
State with a unicameral legislature— 
(i) the leader of the party with the 
greatest number of seats in the legislature 
may exercise the removal authority de-
scribed in clauses (i) and (ii) of subpara-
graph (A); and 
(ii) the leader of the party with the 
second greatest number of seats in the leg-
islature may exercise the removal authority 
described in clauses (iii) and (iv) of sub-
paragraph (A). 
(4) FINAL SELECTION POOLS.—Not later than 
the first November 20 occurring after the appoint-
ment of the selection panel, the selection panel shall 
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establish the following final selection pools of indi-
viduals who may be appointed to serve on the inde-
pendent redistricting commission under subsection 
(a): 
(A) A final majority selection pool, con-
sisting of 10 individuals selected at random 
from the majority category under clause (i) of 
paragraph (2)(A), as reduced under paragraph 
(3). 
(B) A final minority selection pool, con-
sisting of 10 individuals selected at random 
from the minority category under clause (ii) of 
paragraph (2)(A), as reduced under paragraph 
(3). 
(C) A final independent selection pool, con-
sisting of 10 individuals selected at random 
from the independent category under clause (ii) 
of paragraph (2)(A), as reduced under para-
graph (3). 
(c) 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: 
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(A) As of the date of appointment, the in-
dividual is registered to vote in elections for 
Federal office held in the State. 
(B) The individual has voted in at least 2 
of the 3 most recent Statewide general elections 
held prior to the date of appointment. 
(C) During the 3-year period ending on the 
date of the individual’s appointment, the indi-
vidual has been continuously registered to vote 
with the same political party, or has not been 
registered to vote with any political party. 
(D) The individual provides the selection 
panel with a written statement containing the 
following assurances: 
(i) 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. 
(ii) An assurance that, during the cov-
ered periods described in paragraph (3), 
the individual has not taken and will not 
take any action which would disqualify the 
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individual from serving as a member of the 
commission under such paragraph. 
(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. 
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(D) 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 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 gives an aggregate amount of 
less than $10,000 to the candidate with respect 
to the election). 
(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 3-year period ending on the date 
of the individual’s appointment. 
(B) The period in which the commission is 
carrying out its duties. 
(C) The 3-year period beginning on the 
date of the commission’s termination. 
(4) IMMEDIATE FAMILY MEMBER DEFINED.—In 
this subsection, 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. 
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(d) REMOVAL; VACANCIES.— 
(1) REMOVAL.—After having been served writ-
ten notice and provided with an opportunity for a re-
sponse, a member of the commission may be re-
moved by the Governor, with the concurrence of two- 
thirds of the upper house of the State legislature 
(or, in the case of a State with a unicameral legisla-
ture, the legislature), for substantial neglect of duty, 
gross misconduct in office, or inability to discharge 
the duties of office. 
(2) VACANCY.—A vacancy in the commission 
shall be filled in the manner in which the original 
appointment was made. 
(e) PROCEDURES
FOR CONDUCTING COMMISSION 
BUSINESS.— 
(1) CHAIR.—Members of an independent redis-
tricting commission established under this subsection 
shall select by majority vote one member who was 
appointed from the final independent selection pool 
described in subsection (b)(4)(C) to serve as chair of 
the commission. The commission may not take any 
action to develop a redistricting plan for the State 
under section 5 until the appointment of the com-
mission’s chair. 
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(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 majority of 
its members given at a meeting at which at least a 
majority of its members are present. 
(3) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of 
the commission shall constitute a quorum. 
(f) DEADLINE.—Each State shall establish a commis-
sion under this section not later than December 31 of each 
year in which a decennial census is conducted. 
(g) 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-
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tion brought with respect to Congressional redis-
tricting in the State. 
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, 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) Districts shall comply with the Voting 
Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.). 
(C) Districts shall be geographically con-
tiguous. 
(D) To the extent practicable, district 
boundaries shall minimize the division of any 
municipality, county, neighborhood, or commu-
nity of interest. For purposes of this subpara-
graph, a community of interest is a contiguous 
population which shares common social and eco-
nomic interests that should be included within 
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a single district for purposes of its effective and 
fair representation. Examples of such shared in-
terests are those common to an urban area, a 
rural area, an industrial area, or an agricultural 
area, and those common to areas in which the 
people share similar living standards, use the 
same transportation facilities, have similar work 
opportunities, or have access to the same media 
of communication relevant to the election proc-
ess. Communities of interest shall not include 
relationships with political parties, incumbent 
officeholders, or political candidates. 
(E) To the extent practicable, districts 
shall be geographically compact such that near-
by areas of population are not bypassed for 
more distant areas of population. 
(F) To the extent practicable, district lines 
shall use visible geographic features. 
(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: 
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(A) The political party affiliation of the 
population of a district. 
(B) The residence of any Member of the 
House of Representatives or candidate. 
(b) PUBLIC NOTICE AND INPUT.— 
(1) USE OF OPEN AND TRANSPARENT PROC-
ESS.—The commission shall hold each of its meet-
ings in public, shall solicit and take into consider-
ation comments from the public throughout the 
process of developing the redistricting plan for the 
State, and shall carry out its duties in an open and 
transparent manner which provides for the widest 
public dissemination reasonably possible of its pro-
posed and final redistricting plans. 
(2) MINIMUM PUBLIC HEARINGS.—The commis-
sion shall hold, at a minimum, the following public 
hearings at which members of the public may pro-
vide input and comments: 
(A) A hearing held prior to the develop-
ment of draft redistricting plans under sub-
section (c)(1). 
(B) A hearing held upon the development 
and publication of such draft redistricting 
plans, at which the congressional district maps 
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redistricting plan to the court in accordance with 
section 6(a); 
(3) if the chief election official of the State peti-
tions the highest court of the State for an order in 
accordance with section 6(a), the court shall approve 
a final redistricting plan in accordance with section 
6(a) prior to the expiration of the 180-day period 
which begins on the date of the final order of the 
Federal court to conduct the redistricting; and 
(4) if the highest court of the State fails to 
meet the requirements of paragraph (3), a district 
court of the United States shall develop and publish 
a final redistricting plan for the State in accordance 
with section 6(b) prior to the expiration of the 210- 
day period which begins on the date of the final 
order of the Federal court to conduct the redis-
tricting. 
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— 
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