1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to redistricting; establishing redistricting principles for legislative and 
1.3 	congressional districts;proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 
1.4 	2.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. [2.022] LEGISLATIVE REDISTRICTING PRINCIPLES.
1.7 		Subdivision 1.Nesting. A state house district must not be divided in the formation of a 
1.8 	state senate district.
1.9 		Subd. 2.Numbering. The legislative districts must be numbered in a regular series, 
1.10 	beginning with House District 1A in the northwest corner of the state and proceeding across 
1.11 	the state from west to east, north to south, but bypassing the 11-county metropolitan area, 
1.12 	as defined in section 200.02, subdivision 24, until the southeast corner has been reached; 
1.13 	then to the 11-county metropolitan area outside the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul; 
1.14 	then to Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
1.15 		Subd. 3.Population. Redistricting plans for state legislatures must faithfully adhere to 
1.16 	the concept of population-based representation. The population of a legislative district must 
1.17 	not deviate by more than two percent from the population of the ideal district.
1.18 		Subd. 4.Minority representation. Legislative districts must not be drawn with either 
1.19 	the purpose or effect of denying or abridging the voting rights of any United States citizen 
1.20 	on account of race, ethnicity, or membership in a language minority group and must otherwise 
1.21 	comply with the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution 
1.22 	and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended.
2.1 		Subd. 5.Convenient, contiguous, and compact districts. Legislative districts must 
2.2 	consist of convenient, contiguous territory structured into compact units. Contiguity by 
2.3 	water is sufficient if the body of water does not pose a serious obstacle to travel within the 
2.4 	district. Legislative districts with areas that connect only at a single point must not be 
2.5 	considered contiguous.
2.6 		Subd. 6.Preservation of political subdivisions. Political subdivisions must not be 
2.7 	divided more than necessary to meet constitutional requirements.
2.8 		Subd. 7.Communities of interest. Where possible in compliance with the preceding 
2.9 	principles, communities of interest must be preserved. For purposes of this principle, 
2.10 	"communities of interest" include, but are not limited to, groups of Minnesota citizens with 
2.11 	clearly recognizable similarities of social, geographic, political, cultural, ethnic, economic, 
2.12 	or other interests.
2.13 		Subd. 8.Incumbents. Legislative districts must not be drawn for the purpose of protecting 
2.14 	or defeating an incumbent, but the impact of redistricting on incumbent officeholders is a 
2.15 	factor subordinate to all redistricting criteria that the legislature may consider to determine 
2.16 	whether proposed plans result in either undue incumbent protection or excessive incumbent 
2.17 	conflicts.

2.18 	Sec. 2. [2.732] CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING PRINCIPLES.
2.19 		Subdivision 1.Applicability; constitutional duty of legislature. The principles in this 
2.20 	section apply to congressional districts.
2.21 		Subd. 2.Numbering. The district numbers must begin with Congressional District 1 in 
2.22 	the southeast corner of the state and end with Congressional District 8 in the northeast corner 
2.23 	of the state.
2.24 		Subd. 3.Population. The congressional districts must be as nearly equal in population 
2.25 	as is practicable.
2.26 		Subd. 4.Minority representation. Congressional districts must not be drawn with either 
2.27 	the purpose or effect of denying or abridging the voting rights of any United States citizen 
2.28 	on account of race, ethnicity, or membership in a language minority group and must otherwise 
2.29 	comply with the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution 
2.30 	and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended.
2.31 		Subd. 5.Convenient, contiguous, and compact districts. Districts must consist of 
2.32 	convenient, contiguous territory structured into compact units. Contiguity by water is 
2.33 	sufficient if the body of water does not pose a serious obstacle to travel within the district. 
3.1 	Congressional districts with areas that connect only at a single point must not be considered 
3.2 	contiguous.
3.3 		Subd. 6.Preservation of political subdivisions. Political subdivisions must not be 
3.4 	divided more than necessary to meet constitutional requirements.
3.5 		Subd. 7.Communities of interest. Where possible in compliance with the preceding 
3.6 	principles, communities of interest must be preserved. For purposes of this principle, 
3.7 	"communities of interest" include, but are not limited to, groups of Minnesota citizens with 
3.8 	clearly recognizable similarities of social, geographic, political, cultural, ethnic, economic, 
3.9 	or other interests.
3.10 		Subd. 8.Incumbents. Congressional districts must not be drawn for the purpose of 
3.11 	protecting or defeating incumbents, but the impact of redistricting on incumbent officeholders 
3.12 	is a factor subordinate to all redistricting criteria that the legislature may consider to determine 
3.13 	whether proposed plans result in either undue incumbent protection or excessive incumbent 
3.14 	conflicts.

3.15 	Sec. 3. [2.95] REDISTRICTING PLANS; DATA.
3.16 	(a) The geographic areas and population counts used in maps, tables, and legal 
3.17 	descriptions of the districts must be those used by the Geographic Information Systems 
3.18 	(GIS) Office of the Legislative Coordinating Commission. The population counts must be 
3.19 	the block population counts provided to the state under Public Law 94-171 after each 
3.20 	decennial census, subject to correction of any errors acknowledged by the United States 
3.21 	Census Bureau.
3.22 	(b) A redistricting plan must not be considered for adoption by the senate or house of 
3.23 	representatives until the redistricting plan's block equivalency file has been submitted to 
3.24 	the GIS Office in a form prescribed by the GIS Office. The block equivalency file must 
3.25 	show the district to which each census block has been assigned.

3.26 	Sec. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.
 3.27 	This act is effective the day following final enactment and applies to any plan for districts 
3.28 	enacted or established on or after that date.