I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 713 
To require States to carry out Congressional redistricting in accordance 
with a process under which members of the public are informed of 
redistricting proposals and have the opportunity to participate in the 
development of such proposals prior to their adoption, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 27, 2017 
Mr. COOPER (for himself, Mr. PETERSON, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. COSTA, Mr. 
SCHRADER, Mrs. MURPHY of Florida, and Mr. O’HALLERAN) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To require States to carry out Congressional redistricting 
in accordance with a process under which members of 
the public are informed of redistricting proposals and 
have the opportunity to participate in the development 
of such proposals prior to their adoption, and for other 
purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL 
AUTHORITY. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Redistricting Transparency Act of 2017’’. 
(b) FINDING.—Congress finds that it has the author-
ity to require States to follow certain procedures in car-
rying out Congressional redistricting after an apportion-
ment of Members of the House of Representatives be-
cause— 
(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. REQUIRING REDISTRICTING TO BE CONDUCTED 
UNDER PROCEDURES PROVIDING OPPOR-
TUNITY FOR PUBLIC PARTICIPATION. 
(a) REQUIREMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, any Congressional redistricting con-
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ducted by a State shall be conducted in accordance 
with a process under which the entity responsible for 
developing Congressional redistricting plans in the 
State (hereafter in this Act referred to as the ‘‘State 
redistricting entity’’)— 
(A) in accordance with section 3, estab-
lishes and operates an Internet site; 
(B) in accordance with section 4, provides 
opportunities for participation by members of 
the public in the initial development of such 
plans; 
(C) in accordance with section 5, provides 
opportunities for members of the public to re-
spond to the proposed final Congressional redis-
tricting plan; and 
(D) in accordance with section 6, notifies 
members of the public regarding the final Con-
gressional redistricting plan adopted for the 
State. 
(2) OTHER
PROCEDURES
PERMITTED.—Noth-
ing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act 
may be construed to prohibit a State from con-
ducting Congressional redistricting in accordance 
with such procedures as the State considers appro-
priate, to the extent that such procedures are con-
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sistent with the applicable requirements of this Act 
and the amendments made by this Act. 
(3) NO EFFECT ON REDISTRICTING FOR STATE 
OR LOCAL ELECTIONS.—Nothing in this Act or the 
amendments made by this Act may be construed to 
affect any procedures a State or a unit of local gov-
ernment in a State may use to conduct redistricting 
with respect to elections for State or local offices. 
(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 a manner consistent with the requirements of the 
Redistricting Transparency Act of 2017’’. 
SEC. 3. PUBLIC INTERNET SITE FOR STATE REDISTRICTING 
ENTITY. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT AND OPERATION OF SITE.— 
Each State redistricting entity shall establish and main-
tain a public Internet site which meets the following re-
quirements: 
(1) The site is updated continuously to provide 
advance notice of meetings held by the entity and to 
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otherwise provide timely information on the entity’s 
activities. 
(2) The site contains the most recent available 
information from the Bureau of the Census on vot-
ing-age population, voter registration, and voting re-
sults in the State, including precinct-level and cen-
sus tract-level data with respect to such information, 
as well as detailed maps reflecting such information. 
(3) The site permits any individual to submit 
comments on any plan proposed by the entity, and 
to submit questions, comments, and other informa-
tion with respect to the entity’s activities. 
(4) The site includes any other information the 
entity is required to post under this Act. 
(b) DEADLINE FOR POSTING OF COMMENTS SUB-
MITTED BY PUBLIC.—The State redistricting entity shall 
ensure that any comment submitted by a member of the 
public to the site established under this section, including 
a comment on any plan proposed by the entity or any 
other person, and any other comment relating to Congres-
sional redistricting in the State, is posted on the site not 
later than 72 hours after submission. 
(c) UPDATING OF INFORMATION.—The State redis-
tricting entity shall take all actions necessary to ensure 
that the site established under this section is updated con-
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tinuously to provide timely advance notice of the entity’s 
meetings and to otherwise provide timely information on 
the entity’s activities. 
(d) DEADLINE.—The State redistricting entity shall 
establish the site under this section as soon as practicable 
after the completion of the regular decennial census, but 
in no case later than the final deadline provided under 
section 22(b) of the Act entitled ‘‘An Act to provide for 
the fifteenth and subsequent decennial censuses and to 
provide for an apportionment of Representatives in Con-
gress’’, approved June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a), for the 
Clerk of the House of Representatives to transmit to the 
State the notice of the number of Representatives to which 
the State is entitled in the following Congress. 
SEC. 4. OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARTICIPATION IN INITIAL 
DEVELOPMENT OF CONGRESSIONAL REDIS-
TRICTING PLANS. 
During the 60-day period which begins on the date 
the State receives the notice referred to in section 3(d), 
the State redistricting entity shall solicit the input of 
members of the public in its work to develop initial Con-
gressional redistricting plans for the State by carrying out 
the following activities: 
(1) Publishing and posting on the Internet site 
established under section 3 the criteria which the en-
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tity will use to develop the Congressional redis-
tricting plan for the State. 
(2) Holding at least one hearing in the State at 
which members of the public may provide comments 
on such criteria and any other issues relating to 
Congressional redistricting in the State. 
(3) Publishing and posting the transcript of 
each such hearing, or posting a link to a video re-
cording of each such hearing, on the Internet site 
not later than 7 days after the conclusion of the 
hearing. 
SEC. 5. OPPORTUNITIES TO RESPOND TO PROPOSED FINAL 
CONGRESSIONAL 
REDISTRICTING 
PLAN 
ADOPTED BY REDISTRICTING ENTITY. 
(a) NOTICE OF FINAL PLAN.—Not later than 10 
days prior to adopting a final Congressional redistricting 
plan for the State, the State redistricting entity shall post 
on the Internet site established under section 3 (and, if 
practicable, cause to have published in newspapers of gen-
eral circulation throughout the State) the following infor-
mation: 
(1) A detailed version of the proposed final 
plan, including— 
(A) a map showing each Congressional dis-
trict established under the plan; 
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(B) a statement of the voting age popu-
lation by race and membership in a language 
minority group of each such district; and 
(C) a statement of the number of reg-
istered voters in each such district, broken 
down by political party affiliation to the extent 
that such information is available under State 
law. 
(2) A statement explaining the entity’s reasons 
for adopting the proposed final plan and the reasons 
why the adoption of the plan will best serve the pub-
lic interest. 
(3) Any dissenting statement of any member of 
the entity who did not approve the proposed final 
plan. 
(4) A statement that members of the public 
may submit comments regarding the proposed final 
plan through the Internet site, together with infor-
mation on how members of the public may submit 
such comments to the entity through other methods. 
(b) PUBLIC HEARING PRIOR TO ADOPTION OF FINAL 
PLAN.—Not later than 7 days prior to adopting the final 
Congressional redistricting plan for the State, the State 
redistricting entity shall hold at least one hearing in the 
State at which members of the public may provide com-
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