SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE, FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL 
AUTHORITY. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘National Commission for Independent Redistricting Act 
of 2012’’. 
(b) FINDING.—Congress finds that it has the author-
ity to establish the terms and conditions in carrying out 
Congressional redistricting after an apportionment of 
Members of the House of Representatives 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 14th Amendment to the Constitu-
tion gives Congress the power to enact laws to en-
force section 2 of such amendment, which requires 
Representatives to be apportioned among the several 
States according to their number. 
TITLE 
I—NATIONAL 
COMMIS-
SION FOR INDEPENDENT RE-
DISTRICTING 
SEC. 101. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMISSION. 
There is established in the legislative branch with re-
spect to each regular decennial census (beginning with the 
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regular decennial census conducted during 2020) a com-
mission to be known as the ‘‘National Commission for 
Independent Redistricting’’ (hereafter in this Act referred 
to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 
SEC. 102. PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION OF STATE RE-
DISTRICTING PLANS. 
(a) PREPARATION
OF
CONGRESSIONAL
REDIS-
TRICTING PLAN FOR EACH STATE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 
receiving the statement of the number of Represent-
atives to which each State is entitled, as transmitted 
to the Commission by the President under section 
22(a) of the Act entitled ‘‘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(a)), as amended by subsection (d), the Commis-
sion shall establish and approve a Congressional re-
districting plan for each State that contains— 
(A) a map showing each Congressional dis-
trict established under the plan for the State, 
consistent with the criteria described in para-
graph (2); 
(B) a detailed statement of the findings 
and conclusions of the Commission and the rea-
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sons why the adoption of the plan will best 
serve the public interest; and 
(C) the assumptions, scenarios, and alter-
natives considered in reaching such findings 
and conclusions. 
(2) CRITERIA CONSIDERED.—The Commission 
shall develop the redistricting plan for a State in ac-
cordance 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-
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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 and 
consistent with the criteria set forth above, en-
couraging the geographical compactness of dis-
tricts so that nearby population areas are not 
bypassed for more distant population areas (in 
accordance with such standards as the Commis-
sion may establish). 
(F) Ensuring that districts are contiguous 
(except to the extent necessary to include any 
area which is surrounded by a body of water). 
(3) FACTORS
PROHIBITED
FROM
CONSIDER-
ATION.—In developing the redistricting plan for a 
State, the Commission may not take into consider-
ation any of the following factors, except to the ex-
tent necessary to comply with the Voting Rights Act 
of 1965: 
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(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 law of the State which requires the estab-
lishment 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, or of potential 
candidates for the House of Representatives, in 
the State. 
(b) DEVELOPMENT
AND
APPROVAL
OF
PLANS 
THROUGH TRANSPARENT PROCESS.—In accordance with 
section 104, the Commission shall develop interim redis-
tricting plans for a State, and shall develop and approve 
a final redistricting plan for a State, through a trans-
parent process that takes into account public comments. 
(c) APPROVAL OF PLAN.—The Commission may not 
approve a redistricting plan for a State under this section 
unless the plan is approved by not fewer than 8 of its 
members. 
(d) REQUIRING PRESIDENT TO TRANSMIT STATE-
MENT OF NUMBER OF REPRESENTATIVES FOR STATES.— 
Section 22(a) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for 
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