Redistricting Transparency and Accountability Act of 2024

Bill: 118-hr-7095
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Ross, Deborah K. [D-NC-2]
Introduced: 2024-01-25
Policy area: Government Operations and Politics
Latest action: action_date: 2024-01-30
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H299)

Summaries:

tv_txt: I 118th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 7095 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES January 25, 2024 Ms. Ross (for herself, Mr. Nickel , Ms. Manning , Mr. Jackson of North Carolina , Mrs. Foushee , Ms. Adams , and Mr. Davis of North Carolina ) 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.

1. Short title; finding of Constitutional authority (a) Short Title This Act may be cited as the Redistricting Transparency and Accountability Act of 2024 . (b) Finding Congress finds that it has the authority to require States to follow certain procedures in carrying out congressional redistricting after an apportionment of Members of the House of Representatives because— (1) the authority granted to Congress under article I, section 4 of the Constitution of the United States gives Congress the power to enact laws governing 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 Constitution 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 the number of whole persons in each State. 2. Requiring redistricting to be conducted under procedures providing opportunity for public participation (a) Requirement (1) In general Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any congressional redistricting conducted 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, establishes 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; and (C) in accordance with section 5, notifies members of the public regarding the proposed final congressional redistricting plan and provides opportunities for members of the public to respond to the plan. (2) Treatment of subordinate entities Except as otherwise provided in this Act, the requirements of this Act shall apply with respect to any entity which is subordinate to the entity responsible for the final adoption of a congressional redistricting plan under State law, including any commission, board, committee, or subcommittee responsible under State law for performing certain functions on behalf of such entity in conjunction with the development and adoption of the plan for the State, in the same manner as such requirements apply with respect to the State redistricting entity. (3) Other procedures permitted 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 procedures as the State considers appropriate, to the extent that such procedures are consistent with the applicable requirements of this Act and the amendments made by this Act. (4) 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 government 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 apportionment 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 inserting: in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Redistricting Transparency and Accountability Act of 2024 . 3. Public internet site for State redistricting entity (a) Establishment and operation of site Each State redistricting entity shall establish and maintain a public internet site which meets the following minimum requirements: (1) The site provides general information about the congressional redistricting process, including information on— (A) applicable legal requirements; and (B) any redistricting principles or policies that the State redistricting entity will use in creating or evaluating congressional redistricting plans. (2) The site is updated continuously to provide timely advance notice of meetings held by the entity and to otherwise provide information on the activities of the entity and any subordinate entity described in section 2(a)(2). (3) The site provides access to all congressional redistricting plans or district maps submitted by any person or entity as part of the redistricting process. (4) The site provides members of the public with no-cost access to easily assessable digital files containing the block equivalency, shapefiles, and demographic and election data needed for analysis, evaluation, or creation of proposed redistricting plans, including assessment of a plan’s partisan performance and compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and other applicable legal requirements. (5) The site permits any individual to submit, view, and search comments on proposed redistricting plans, and to submit questions, comments, and other information with respect to the entity’s activities. (6) The site permits members of the public to watch, in both live and archival formats, and review transcripts of, any public hearings or meetings of the State redistricting entity. (7) The site includes any other information the entity is required to make public under this Act or other applicable law. (b) Deadline for posting of comments submitted by public The State redistricting entity shall ensure that any oral or written comment relating to Congressional redistricting in the State which is submitted by a member of the public to the State redistricting agency, including a comment on any plan proposed by the entity or any other person, is made available on the site not later than 72 hours after submission. (c) Updating of information The State redistricting entity shall take all actions necessary to ensure that the site established under this section is updated continuously to provide timely advance notice of the entity’s meetings and to otherwise provide timely information on the entity’s activities. (d) Multiple language requirements All of the information which is described in paragraphs (1), (2), and (6) of subsection (a) this section shall be posted and published in any language in which the State (or any jurisdiction in the State) is required to provide election materials under section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 ( 52 U.S.C. 10503 ). (e) Deadline; preservation of information (1) Deadline The State redistricting entity shall establish the internet site required under this section not later than August 1 of the year in which the regular decennial census is conducted. (2) Preservation of information All information on the internet site established under this section with respect to a congressional redistricting plan shall be preserved in an accessible format for a period of not less than 10 years following adoption of the plan. 4. Public hearings and other opportunities for public participation in initial development of congressional redistricting plans (a) Requirements for public hearings (1) In general To ensure that development of the State’s congressional redistricting plan is informed by public input, the State redistricting entity shall hold hearings before and after the development of any proposed congressional redistricting plans. Such hearings— (A) shall be held in different regions of the State, with an option for participants to participate virtually, and shall be streamed live on the public internet site maintained by the State redistricting entity under section 3; and (B) shall be sufficient in number, scheduled at times and places, and noticed and conducted in a manner to ensure that all members of the public, including members of racial, ethnic, and language minorities protected under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, have a meaningful opportunity to attend and provide input both before and after the entity releases proposed plans, including— (i) comments on the criteria the entity will use to develop the plans; (ii) the content of the plans; and (iii) any other issues relating to congressional redistricting in the State. (2) Development and adoption of schedule (A) Initial proposed schedule Prior to conducting hearings under this section, the State redistricting entity shall develop and publish a proposed schedule of hearings that it determines are sufficient in number to ensure that persons in all parts of the State, including members of racial, ethnic, and language minorities protected under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, have a meaningful opportunity to provide input and comments regarding the contents of redistricting plans for the State, except that the number of hearings under the proposed schedule may not be fewer than three. (B) Public response to proposed schedule Following publication of the proposed schedule of hearings under subparagraph (A), members of the public shall have a period of not less than ten days to comment on the number of proposed hearings, their dates, times, and locations, and the processes by which the State redistricting entity proposes to provide notice of such hearings and ensure that the hearings are equally open to all members of the communities where the hearings are to take place. (C) Publication of final schedule; opportunities for additional hearings After giving due consideration to any comments received under subparagraph (B), the State redistricting entity shall publish a final schedule of hearings under this section, except that nothing in this paragraph may be construed to prohibit the entity from holdings additional hearings under this section if the entity determines that additional hearings are necessary to enable the entity to obtain the information it needs to obtain sufficient public input on proposed redistricting plans. (b) Other opportunities for public participation Beginning on the date the State receives the notice of the number of Representatives to which the State is entitled in the following Congress 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 Congress”, approved June 18, 1929 ( 2 U.S.C. 2a ), and continuing for not fewer than 60 days thereafter, the State redistricting entity shall solicit the input of members of the public in its work to develop proposed congressional redistricting plans for the State by carrying out the following activities: (1) Posting on the internet site established under section 3 the criteria which the entity will use to develop the congressional redistricting plan for the State. (2) Posting on the internet site established under section 3 a link to a video recording of each such hearing not later than 24 hours after the conclusion of the hearing and posting on the site a searchable version of the transcript of each such hearing not later than 5 days after the conclusion of the hearing. (3) Engaging in outreach to provide information to and encourage participation in the redistricting process by communities with limited access to the internet or who may be difficult to reach through English-language media. 5. Notification of congressional redistricting plan proposed to be adopted by redistricting entity; opportunities for public to respond (a) Notice of proposed final plan Not later than 10 days prior to holding a final vote on the adoption of a final congressional redistricting plan for the State, the State redistricting entity shall post information about the plan on the internet site established under section 3, including at a minimum the following: (1) An analysis of the proposed final plan, including— (A) a map showing each congressional district established under the plan, together with easily accessible digital files containing the block equivalency and shapefiles for each such district; (B) a statement of the total population, the voting age population, and citizen population of each such district, broken down by race and membership in a language minority group ; and (C) a statement of the number of registered voters in each such district, broken down by political party affiliation to the extent that such information is available under State law; (D) a statement of the results in each such district for all statewide elections conducted in the State in the 6 years preceding the year in which the most recent decennial census was conducted; (E) an analysis of the plan’s compliance with applicable laws, including the Voting Rights Act of 1965; (F) an assessment of the partisan fairness of the plan under one or more standard quantitative measures of partisan bias; (G) a statement identifying all individuals and entities responsible for the drafting of, or who were consulted in conjunction with drafting of, the plan; and (H) a statement describing any changes made to the plan in response to input from members of the public. (2) A statement explaining the entity’s reasons for adopting the proposed final plan and the reasons why the adoption of the plan, as opposed to the adoption of alternative plans, will best serve the public interest, together with an assessment of how the plan is consistent with the policies described in section 3(a)(1). (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 information 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 (1) Mandatory public hearing Not later than 7 days prior to holding a final vote on the adoption of the final congressional redistricting plan for the State, the State redistricting entity shall hold hearings in accordance with the requirements of section 4 at which members of the public may provide comments on the plan. (2) Video and transcripts of hearings The entity shall post a link to a video recording of each such hearing on the internet site established under section 3 immediately following the conclusion of the hearing, and shall publish and post on such website a searchable version of a transcript of the hearing not later than 48 hours after the conclusion of the hearing. (c) Treatment of amended and new plans If the State redistricting entity posts an amended version of the proposed final congressional redistricting plan or posts a new proposed final congressional redistricting plan, subsections (a) and (b) shall apply with respect to the amended version of the plan or the new plan in the same manner as such subsections apply with respect to the proposed final plan which is first posted under subsection (a). (d) Application to subordinate entities holding votes on recommending adoption of plan If a subordinate entity of a State redistricting entity described in section 2(a)(2), including a committee or subcommittee of the State redistricting entity, is directed under State law to hold a vote on recommending the adoption of a final congressional redistricting plan to the State redistricting entity, subsections (a) and (b) shall apply with respect to the subordinate entity and the vote held by the subordinate entity on recommending the adoption of the plan in the same manner as such subsections apply to the State redistricting entity and the final vote held on the adoption of the final plan by the State redistricting entity. 6. Effective Date; application to redistricting conducted pursuant to 2020 census for certain States (a) Effective date This Act and the amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to any congressional redistricting which occurs after the regular decennial census conducted during 2030. (b) Application to redistricting conducted pursuant to 2020 census for States without enacted Congressional redistricting plans If a State is ordered by a court to revise its congressional redistricting plan for conducting redistricting pursuant to the regular decennial census conducted during 2020, and the State has not enacted such a final congressional redistricting plan as of the date of the enactment of this Act, this Act and the amendments made by this Act shall apply with respect to congressional redistricting in the State which is conducted pursuant to the regular decennial census conducted during 2020, except that— (1) the State shall establish the Internet site described in section 3 as soon as practicable after the date of the enactment of this Act; and (2) the State redistricting entity shall begin to solicit the input of members of the public under section 4(b) not later than 30 days after the court issues the order to the State or such earlier deadline as the court may require under the order.