Sec. 5. Development of Redistricting Plan by Independent Commission; Public Notice and Input
726 words·~3 min read·
/bill/113/hr/2978/ih/section-5A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
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: Districts shall each have equal population per representative as nearly as practicable, in accordance with the Constitution of the United States. Districts shall comply with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 ( 42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq. ). Districts shall be geographically contiguous. To the extent practicable, district boundaries shall minimize the division of any municipality, county, neighborhood, or community of interest.
For purposes of this subparagraph, a community of interest is a contiguous population which shares common social and economic interests that should be included within a single district for purposes of its effective and fair representation. Examples of such shared interests 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 process.
Communities of interest shall not include relationships with political parties, incumbent officeholders, or political candidates. To the extent practicable, districts shall be geographically compact such that nearby areas of population are not bypassed for more distant areas of population. To the extent practicable, district lines shall use visible geographic features. In developing the redistricting plan for the State, the independent redistricting commission may not take into consideration any of the following factors, except to the extent necessary to comply with the Voting Rights Act of 1965:
The political party affiliation of the population of a district. The residence of any Member of the House of Representatives or candidate. The commission shall hold each of its meetings in public, shall solicit and take into consideration 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 proposed and final redistricting plans.
The commission shall hold, at a minimum, the following public hearings at which members of the public may provide input and comments: A hearing held prior to the development of draft redistricting plans under subsection (c)(1). A hearing held upon the development and publication of such draft redistricting plans, at which the congressional district maps provided under each such plan shall be displayed. A hearing held upon the approval of the final redistricting plan under subsection (c)(2), at which the congressional district maps provided under such plan shall be displayed.
The commission shall accept and consider comments from the public with respect to congressional district maps displayed at any hearing described in paragraph
(2)for not fewer than 30 days after the date of the hearing. The commission shall make available to the public all of the demographic data used by the commission to develop the proposed redistricting plans, together with any software used to draw maps of proposed districts. To the greatest extent practicable, the commission shall hold its meetings and hearings in various geographic regions and locations throughout the State. Not later than the first June 1 which occurs after the chief executive of the State receives the State apportionment notice, the commission shall publish and disseminate multiple draft redistricting plans. After publishing and disseminating the draft redistricting plans under paragraph (1), the commission shall solicit and take into consideration comments from the public on such draft plans during a period of at least 60 days following the date on which such draft plans are published and disseminated. After taking into consideration comments from the public on the draft redistricting plans, the commission shall publish and disseminate a final redistricting plan for the State, and shall vote on approving such final plan for enactment into law by not later than the first August 15 which occurs after the chief executive of the State receives the State apportionment notice. The final redistricting plan published and disseminated under paragraph
(3)shall be deemed to be enacted into law if— the plan is approved by a majority of the whole membership of the commission; and at least one member of the commission appointed from each of the final selection pools described in section 4(a)(1) approves the plan.
Connectionstraces to 1
Traces to 1 document
U.S. Code
Citation graph
cites case law
Sec. 5
Development of Redistricting Plan by Independent Commission; Public Notice and Input
Cites 1Cited by 0 across 0 sources