HF 2594

as introduced - 92nd Legislature (2021 - 2022) Posted on 05/06/2021 03:44pm

A bill for an act
relating to elections; providing districting principles; requiring redistricting reports;
requiring certain hearings and disclosures; amending Minnesota Statutes 2020,
sections 2.031, by adding a subdivision; 2.731; proposing coding for new law in
Minnesota Statutes, chapter 2.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 2.031, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Numbering. new text end

new text begin Legislative districts must be numbered in a regular series, beginning
with House District 1A in the northwest corner of the state and proceeding across the state
from west to east, north to south. In a county that includes more than one whole senate
district, the districts must be numbered consecutively.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment.
new text end

Sec. 2.

new text begin [2.035] DISTRICTING PRINCIPLES.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Application. new text end

new text begin The prohibitions and principles in this section apply to
legislative and congressional districts.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Prohibitions. new text end

new text begin (a) Districts must not be drawn to purposefully favor or disfavor
a political party, candidate, or incumbent.
new text end

new text begin (b) Districts must not be drawn using voter registration; voter turnout; voting history;
party preference, including participation in the presidential nominating primary; general
election voting patterns; or primary voting patterns, except for the purposes of drawing
districts in compliance with this section and of issuing the reports required by section 2.036,
subdivision 3.
new text end

new text begin (c) Districts must not be drawn using the location of incumbents' or candidates' residences.
new text end

new text begin (d) Districts must not be drawn using data subject to reporting or regulation under chapter
10A; section 201.091, subdivision 4a; United States Code, title 52, subtitle III; or United
States Code, title 26, subtitle H.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Priority of principles. new text end

new text begin Districts must be drawn in accordance with the principles
in subdivisions 4 to 14. If districts cannot be drawn fully in accordance with the principles
in subdivisions 4 to 14, a districting plan must give priority to the principles in the order in
which they are listed, except when doing so would violate federal or state law.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Population equality. new text end

new text begin (a) Each congressional district must be as nearly equal
in population as practicable.
new text end

new text begin (b) Each legislative district must be substantially equal in population. The population
of a legislative district must not deviate by more than plus or minus five percent from the
population of the ideal district.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Minority representation. new text end

new text begin (a) Districts must comply with the 14th and 15th
Amendments of the United States Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as
amended.
new text end

new text begin (b) Districts must not dilute or diminish the equal opportunity of racial, ethnic, and
language minorities to participate in the political process and to elect candidates of their
choice, whether alone or in coalition with others.
new text end

new text begin (c) Districts must provide all voters, including racial minorities and language minorities
who constitute less than a voting-age majority of a district, with equal opportunity to elect
candidates of their choice.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Convenience and contiguity. new text end

new text begin Each district must be convenient and contiguous.
A district is convenient if it allows reasonable ease of travel within the district. Contiguity
by water is sufficient if the water is not a serious obstacle to travel within the district. A
district with areas that touch only at a point is not contiguous.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 7. new text end

new text begin Nesting. new text end

new text begin A state legislative representative district must not be divided in the
formation of a state legislative senate district.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 8. new text end

new text begin Communities of interest. new text end

new text begin Districts must minimize the division of identifiable
communities of interest. A community of interest may include any group with shared
experiences and concerns, including but not limited to geographic, governmental, regional,
social, cultural, historic, socioeconomic, occupational, trade, or transportation interests.
Communities of interest must not include relationships with political parties, incumbents,
or candidates.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 9. new text end

new text begin Political subdivisions and American Indian reservations. new text end

new text begin Districts must
minimize the division of counties, cities, towns, and federally recognized American Indian
reservations, except when (1) the division occurs because a portion of a city or town is not
contiguous with another portion of the same city or town, or (2) despite the division, the
known population of any affected county, city, town, or federally recognized American
Indian reservation remains wholly located within a single district.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 10. new text end

new text begin Compactness. new text end

new text begin Districts must be reasonably compact. More than one measure
must be used to evaluate compactness of districts.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 11. new text end

new text begin Partisan effect. new text end

new text begin Districts must not be drawn with the effect of unduly favoring
or disfavoring any political party. Districts must be drawn using judicial standards and the
best available scientific and statistical methods to assess whether a plan complies with this
subdivision. More than one measure of partisan effect must be used. A districting plan
violates this principle if it produces likely partisan effects that represent a significant outlier
compared to computer-simulated districts using nonpartisan criteria.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 12. new text end

new text begin Natural geographic boundaries. new text end

new text begin Districts must be drawn to respect natural
geographic boundaries, including bodies of water, mountain ranges, and other significant
geological and topographic features.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 13. new text end

new text begin Additional principles. new text end

new text begin (a) A legislative committee with jurisdiction over
redistricting may use additional principles if the principles are adopted by a two-thirds
majority vote of the committee members, but the additional principles must not be prioritized
above the principles in this section.
new text end

new text begin (b) Nothing in this subdivision prohibits the use of additional data.
new text end

new text begin (c) If additional data is used, the GIS Office must make the data available to the public
on the GIS Office website.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment.
new text end

Sec. 3.

new text begin [2.036] REDISTRICTING; LEGISLATIVE PROCESS.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Publication; consideration of plans. new text end

new text begin A plan must not be submitted to
the legislature until the plan's block equivalency file has been submitted to the GIS Office
in a form prescribed by the GIS Office. The block equivalency file must show the district
to which each census block has been assigned. The GIS Office must publish each plan
submitted to it on the GIS Office website.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Data used. new text end

new text begin (a) The geographic areas and population counts used in maps, tables,
and legal descriptions of legislative and congressional districts considered by the legislature
and its committees with jurisdiction over redistricting must be those used by the Geographic
Information Services (GIS) Office of the Legislative Coordinating Commission. The
population counts must be the block population counts provided to the state under Public
Law 94-171 after each decennial census, subject to correction of any errors acknowledged
by the United States Census Bureau.
new text end

new text begin (b) A legislative committee with jurisdiction over redistricting must use, at a minimum,
census data representing the entire population of the state to draw congressional and
legislative districts, except when required by law or for the purposes of issuing the reports
required by subdivision 3.
new text end

new text begin (c) A legislative committee with jurisdiction over redistricting must use population data
that reflects incarcerated persons at their last known residence before incarceration.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Reports. new text end

new text begin Publication of a plan must include the reports described as follows:
new text end

new text begin (1) a population equality report that lists each newly drawn district, its population as the
total number of persons, and deviations from the ideal as both the number of persons and
as a percentage of the population. The report must also show the populations of the largest
and smallest districts and the overall range of deviations of districts;
new text end

new text begin (2) a minority voting-age population report that lists for each district the voting age
population of each racial, ethnic, or language minority and the total minority voting age
population according to the categories recommended by the United States Department of
Justice. The report must also specify each district with 30 percent or more total minority
population;
new text end

new text begin (3) a contiguity report that lists each district that is noncontiguous either because two
areas of a district do not touch or because they are linked by a point;
new text end

new text begin (4) if a plan preserves a community of interest, a communities of interest report must
describe how the committee used public testimony and other public data to identify
communities of interest and where it drew district boundaries in response to that testimony.
The report must also list each district to which an identified community of interest has been
assigned;
new text end

new text begin (5) a political subdivision and American Indian reservation splits report that lists each
split of a county, city, township, federally recognized American Indian reservation,
unorganized territory, and precinct, and the district to which each portion of a split division
is assigned. The report must also show the number of subdivisions split and the number of
times a subdivision is split;
new text end

new text begin (6) a plan components report that lists for each district the names and populations of the
counties within it and, if a county is split between or among districts, the names and
populations of the portion of the split county and each of the split county's whole or partial
cities, townships, unorganized territories, and precincts within each district;
new text end

new text begin (7) a measures of compactness report that lists for each district the results of the multiple
measures of compactness, including but not limited to Reock, Polsby-Popper, Minimum
Convex Hull, Population Polygon, Population Circle, Ehrenburg, Perimeter, and
Length-Width measures. The report must also state for each district the sum of the district's
perimeter and the mean of the measurements. The report may list additional tests of
compactness that are accepted in political science and statistics literature; and
new text end

new text begin (8) a partisanship report that lists multiple measures of partisan symmetry. The report
may list additional tests of partisan bias that are accepted in political science and statistics
literature.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Public hearings. new text end

new text begin A legislative committee with jurisdiction over redistricting
must, at a minimum, hold one public hearing in each congressional district before adopting
preliminary drafts of legislative and congressional district plans. The primary purpose of a
public hearing in each congressional district is to provide an opportunity for public testimony
from residents of that district.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Disclosure. new text end

new text begin (a) A legislative committee with jurisdiction over redistricting must
comply with chapter 13 and section 138.17.
new text end

new text begin (b) Meetings of a legislative committee with jurisdiction over redistricting are subject
to chapter 13D.
new text end

new text begin (c) A legislative committee with jurisdiction over redistricting must:
new text end

new text begin (1) publish a draft agenda at least 72 hours before each hearing;
new text end

new text begin (2) provide public notice at least seven days in advance of any public hearing. The notice
must be posted on the committee's website and published in local news sources and on
social media. Notice must be provided in all languages required for voting materials under
the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 and United State Codes, title 52, section 10503, in
the congressional district in which the public hearing is scheduled;
new text end

new text begin (3) prepare and publish a report, before any public hearing and no later than May 15,
2021, and by March 1 in a year ending in "1" thereafter, that describes the committee's
general priorities and intentions for using redistricting criteria in its decision-making process,
including a discussion on how the committee plans to balance competing requirements;
new text end

new text begin (4) adopt a schedule for interested persons to submit proposed plans and to respond to
plans proposed by others. A legislative committee with jurisdiction over redistricting must
also adopt standards to govern the format of plans submitted. A legislative committee with
jurisdiction over redistricting must post submitted plans to its website as soon as practicable;
new text end

new text begin (5) seek public input to identify communities of interest and conduct outreach and hold
additional public hearings if the committee determines that the public input received does
not represent the full diversity of demographic backgrounds of each district and its
surrounding areas;
new text end

new text begin (6) prepare and publish the following:
new text end

new text begin (i) all plans discussed by the full committee;
new text end

new text begin (ii) a summary of all public input received in each comment period;
new text end

new text begin (iii) a summary of the data the committee used to create those plans;
new text end

new text begin (iv) an analysis of the maps using redistricting metrics;
new text end

new text begin (v) a written explanation if an alternative plan furthers constitutional and statutory
redistricting criteria more than the final plan selected by the redistricting committee; and
new text end

new text begin (vi) any other information that provides the basis on which the redistricting committee
made decisions to achieve compliance with constitutional and statutory requirements;
new text end

new text begin (7) make reasonable efforts to schedule meetings in the evenings, on weekends, and at
other times when the most residents of that congressional district are able to attend;
new text end

new text begin (8) whenever possible, use technology that allows for real-time virtual participation and
feedback for all meetings. All audio-visual recordings of committee meetings must be
maintained on the legislative website for 11 years;
new text end

new text begin (9) make reasonable efforts to make available translation services for
limited-English-speaking individuals and those needing accommodations in compliance
with the Americans with Disabilities Act. A redistricting committee may contract with an
entity that provides interpreter services through telephone and video remote technologies;
new text end

new text begin (10) publish on its website preliminary drafts of the legislative and congressional district
plans after completing the hearings in each congressional district. The committee must also
publish on its website each preliminary draft's accompanying reports;
new text end

new text begin (11) allow the public at least 30 days to submit comments to the committee after
publication of required plans and reports. After expiration of the 30 days, the committee
must hold another hearing in each congressional district; and
new text end

new text begin (12) provide notice of the availability of both plans and reports for each congressional
district in all languages required for voting materials under the federal Voting Rights Act
of 1964, United States Code, title 52, section 10503, and as required for compliance with
the Americans with Disabilities Act.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment.
new text end

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2020, section 2.731, is amended to read:

2.731 NUMBER OF DISTRICTS.

The state of Minnesota is divided into eight congressional districts, each of which is
entitled to elect one representative to the Congress of the United States of America. new text begin
Congressional district numbers must begin with district one in the southeast corner of the
state and end with the district with the highest number in the northeast corner of the state.
new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective the day following final enactment.
new text end