1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to redistricting; extending deadlines for 
  1.3             local governments to redistrict if the legislature is 
  1.4             redistricted in a year ending in one; modifying 
  1.5             districting principles for cities, school districts, 
  1.6             and counties; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, 
  1.7             sections 204B.135, subdivisions 1, 2; 204B.14, 
  1.8             subdivision 3; 205.84, subdivision 1; 205A.12, 
  1.9             subdivision 4; 375.025, subdivision 1. 
  1.10  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.11     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 204B.135, 
  1.12  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.13     Subdivision 1.  [CITIES WITH WARDS.] A city that elects its 
  1.14  council members by wards may not redistrict those wards before 
  1.15  the legislature has been redistricted in a year ending in one or 
  1.16  two.  If the legislature is redistricted in a year ending in 
  1.17  one, the wards must be redistricted by the following March 1.  
  1.18  If the legislature is redistricted in a year ending in two, the 
  1.19  wards must be redistricted within 60 days after the legislature 
  1.20  has been redistricted or at least 19 weeks before the state 
  1.21  primary election in the year ending in two, whichever is first. 
  1.22     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 204B.135, 
  1.23  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.24     Subd. 2.  [OTHER ELECTION DISTRICTS.] For purposes of this 
  1.25  subdivision, "local government election district" means a county 
  1.26  district, park and recreation district, school district, or soil 
  1.27  and water conservation district.  Local government election 
  2.1   districts, other than city wards covered by subdivision 1, may 
  2.2   not be redistricted until precinct boundaries are reestablished 
  2.3   under section 204B.14, subdivision 3, paragraph (c).  If the 
  2.4   legislature is redistricted in a year ending in one, election 
  2.5   districts covered by this subdivision must be redistricted by 
  2.6   the following March 20.  If the legislature is redistricted in a 
  2.7   year ending in two, election districts covered by this 
  2.8   subdivision must be redistricted within 80 days of the time when 
  2.9   after the legislature has been redistricted or at least 15 weeks 
  2.10  before the state primary election in the year ending in two, 
  2.11  whichever comes first. 
  2.12     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 204B.14, 
  2.13  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  2.14     Subd. 3.  [BOUNDARY CHANGES; PROHIBITIONS; EXCEPTION.] 
  2.15  Notwithstanding other law or charter provisions to the contrary, 
  2.16  during the period from January 1 in any year ending in zero to 
  2.17  the time when the legislature has been redistricted in a year 
  2.18  ending in one or two, no changes may be made in the boundaries 
  2.19  of any election precinct except as provided in this subdivision. 
  2.20     (a) If a city annexes an unincorporated area located in the 
  2.21  same county as the city and adjacent to the corporate boundary, 
  2.22  the annexed area may be included in an election precinct 
  2.23  immediately adjacent to it.  
  2.24     (b) A municipality or county may establish new election 
  2.25  precincts lying entirely within the boundaries of any existing 
  2.26  precinct and shall assign names to the new precincts which 
  2.27  include the name of the former precinct.  
  2.28     (c) If the legislature is redistricted in a year ending in 
  2.29  one, precinct boundaries must be reestablished by the following 
  2.30  March 1.  If the legislature is redistricted in a year ending in 
  2.31  two, precinct boundaries must be reestablished within 60 days of 
  2.32  the time when after the legislature has been redistricted, or at 
  2.33  least 19 weeks before the state primary election in a the year 
  2.34  ending in two, whichever comes first.  The adoption of 
  2.35  reestablished precinct boundaries becomes effective on the date 
  2.36  of the state primary election in the year ending in two. 
  3.1      Precincts must be arranged so that no precinct lies in more 
  3.2   than one legislative or congressional district.  
  3.3      Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 205.84, 
  3.4   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  3.5      Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL PROVISIONS.] In a city electing 
  3.6   council members by wards, wards shall must be as substantially 
  3.7   equal in population as practicable and each ward shall must be 
  3.8   composed of compact, convenient, contiguous territory.  The 
  3.9   population of a ward must not deviate from the ideal by more 
  3.10  than five percent, plus or minus.  The wards must not dilute the 
  3.11  voting strength of racial or language minority populations.  
  3.12  Where a concentration of a racial or language minority 
  3.13  population makes it possible and it can be done in compliance 
  3.14  with the other principles in this subdivision, the wards must 
  3.15  increase the probability that members of the minority will be 
  3.16  elected.  The wards should attempt to preserve communities of 
  3.17  interest where that can be done in compliance with the preceding 
  3.18  principles.  "Communities of interest" include, but are not 
  3.19  limited to, neighborhoods or other geographic areas where there 
  3.20  are clearly recognizable similarities of social, political, 
  3.21  cultural, ethnic, or economic interests.  Each council 
  3.22  member shall must be a resident of the ward for which elected, 
  3.23  but a change in ward boundaries does not disqualify a council 
  3.24  member from serving for the remainder of a term.  
  3.25     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 205A.12, 
  3.26  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  3.27     Subd. 4.  [ELECTION DISTRICT BOUNDARIES.] Each proposed 
  3.28  Election district districts must be as substantially equal in 
  3.29  population as practicable and must be composed of 
  3.30  compact, convenient, contiguous territory.  The population of a 
  3.31  district must not deviate from the ideal by more than five 
  3.32  percent, plus or minus, unless the result would force a voting 
  3.33  precinct to be split.  The districts must not dilute the voting 
  3.34  strength of racial or language minority populations.  Where a 
  3.35  concentration of a racial or language minority population makes 
  3.36  it possible and it can be done in compliance with the other 
  4.1   principles in this subdivision, the districts must increase the 
  4.2   probability that members of the minority will be elected.  The 
  4.3   districts should attempt to preserve communities of interest 
  4.4   where that can be done in compliance with the preceding 
  4.5   principles.  "Communities of interest" include, but are not 
  4.6   limited to, neighborhoods or other geographic areas where there 
  4.7   are clearly recognizable similarities of social, political, 
  4.8   cultural, ethnic, or economic interests.  The district may 
  4.9   utilize the most recent federal decennial census figures 
  4.10  available or may conduct a special census for this purpose.  The 
  4.11  board shall designate each election district by number. 
  4.12     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 375.025, 
  4.13  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  4.14     Subdivision 1.  [STANDARDS PRINCIPLES.] The redistricting 
  4.15  plan in use in a county shall must be used until a new plan is 
  4.16  adopted in accordance with this section.  Each county shall must 
  4.17  be divided into as many districts numbered consecutively as it 
  4.18  has members of the county board.  Commissioner districts shall 
  4.19  must be bounded by town, municipal, ward, or precinct lines.  
  4.20  Each district shall must be composed of convenient, contiguous 
  4.21  territory as regular and compact in form as practicable, 
  4.22  depending upon the geography of the county involved, and shall 
  4.23  must be as nearly substantially equal in population as possible. 
  4.24  No district shall vary in population more than ten percent from 
  4.25  the average for all districts in the county The population of a 
  4.26  district must not deviate from the ideal by more than five 
  4.27  percent, plus or minus, unless the result forces a voting 
  4.28  precinct to be split.  A majority of the least populous 
  4.29  districts shall must contain not less than a majority of the 
  4.30  population of the county.  The districts must not dilute the 
  4.31  voting strength of racial or language minority populations.  
  4.32  Where a concentration of a racial or language minority 
  4.33  population makes it possible and it can be done in compliance 
  4.34  with the other principles in this subdivision, the districts 
  4.35  must increase the probability that members of the minority will 
  4.36  be elected.  The districts should attempt to preserve 
  5.1   communities of interest where that can be done in compliance 
  5.2   with the preceding principles.  "Communities of interest" 
  5.3   include, but are not limited to, political subdivisions, 
  5.4   neighborhoods, or other geographic areas where there are clearly 
  5.5   recognizable similarities of social, political, cultural, 
  5.6   ethnic, or economic interests.  
  5.7      A county may be redistricted by the county board after each 
  5.8   federal census.  When it appears after a federal census that the 
  5.9   districts of the county are not in accord with the standards set 
  5.10  forth in this subdivision, the county shall must be redistricted 
  5.11  by the county board within the times set in section 204B.135, 
  5.12  subdivision 2.  Before acting to redistrict, the county board, 
  5.13  or a redistricting commission if one is appointed, shall publish 
  5.14  three weeks' notice of its purpose, stating the time and place 
  5.15  of the meeting where the matter will be considered, in the 
  5.16  newspaper having the contract to publish the commissioners' 
  5.17  proceedings for the county for the current year. 
  5.18     Sec. 7.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  5.19     This act is effective for the state primary election in 
  5.20  2002 and thereafter.