Fair Districts Amendment

Bill: 114-hjres-80
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Grayson, Alan [D-FL-9]
Introduced: 2016-01-11
Policy area: Congress
Subjects: Congressional districts and representation

House of Representatives

Members of Congress

Political parties and affiliation

State and local government operations
Latest action: action_date: 2016-02-03
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice.

Summaries:
action_date: 2016-01-11
action_desc: Introduced in House
text: <p><b>Constitutional Amendment</b></p> <p><strong>Fair Districts Amendment</strong></p> <p>This joint resolution proposes a constitutional amendment requiring a state, in establishing districts for the election of Representatives in Congress, to ensure that:</p> <ul> <li> no plan for the apportionment of Representatives among individual districts, or any individual district established under such plan, is drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent;</li> <li> districts shall not be drawn with the intent or result of denying or abridging the equal opportunity of racial or language minorities to participate in the political process or to diminish their ability to elect Representatives of their choice; and</li> <li> districts shall consist of contiguous territory.</li> </ul> <p>Districts shall be as nearly equal in population as is practicable, shall be compact, and shall utilize existing political and geographical boundaries where feasible, unless compliance with such a requirement conflicts with the previous requirements of this joint resolution. </p>

tv_txt: IA 114th CONGRESS 2d Session H. J. RES. 80 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 11, 2016 Mr. Grayson introduced the following joint resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary JOINT RESOLUTION Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to prohibit gerrymandering in the establishment of Congressional districts.

1. Short title This joint resolution may be cited as the Fair Districts Amendment . 2. Constitutional amendment The following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States:  — 1. In establishing districts for the election of Representatives in Congress, a State shall ensure that no plan for the apportionment of Representatives among individual districts, or any individual district established under such plan, is drawn with the intent to favor or disfavor a political party or an incumbent; and districts shall not be drawn with the intent or result of denying or abridging the equal opportunity of racial or language minorities to participate in the political process or to diminish their ability to elect Representatives of their choice; and districts shall consist of contiguous territory (including any territory that would be contiguous except for the fact that it is bounded by a body of water or territory outside of the State). 2. Unless compliance with the standards under this section conflicts with the standards set forth under section 1, districts for the election of Representatives in Congress shall be as nearly equal in population as is practicable; districts shall be compact; and districts shall, where feasible, utilize existing political and geographical boundaries. 3. The order in which the standards under sections 1 and 2 are set forth shall not be read to establish any priority of one standard over any other standard within the same section. .