Sec. 5001. Finding of constitutional authority
265 words·~1 min read·
/bill/118/hr/11/ih/section-5001A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds that it has the authority to establish the terms and conditions States must follow in carrying out congressional redistricting after an apportionment of Members of the House of Representatives because— 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; 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 their number; 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 1 of such amendment, including protections against excessive partisan gerrymandering that Federal courts have not enforced because they understand such enforcement to be committed to Congress by the Constitution; of the authority granted to Congress to enforce article IV, section 4, of the Constitution, and the guarantee of a Republican Form of Government to every State, which Federal courts have not enforced because they understand such enforcement to be committed to Congress by the Constitution; requiring States to use uniform redistricting criteria is an appropriate and important exercise of such authority; and partisan gerrymandering dilutes citizens’ votes because partisan gerrymandering injures voters and political parties by infringing on their First Amendment right to associate freely and their Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection of the laws.