SF 2575

as introduced - 91st Legislature (2019 - 2020) Posted on 02/25/2020 09:08am

A bill for an act
relating to redistricting; requiring the appointment of a commission to recommend
the boundaries of legislative and congressional districts; establishing districting
principles for legislative and congressional plans; assigning duties to the Legislative
Coordinating Commission; assigning duties to the secretary of state; proposing
coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapters 2; 204B.

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

Section 1.

new text begin [2.032] REDISTRICTING COMMISSION.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Commission membership; duties. new text end

new text begin In each year ending in one, a
redistricting commission is created to draw the boundaries of legislative and congressional
districts in accordance with the principles established in section 2.035. The commission
consists of 12 members of the public, to be appointed in the manner provided in subdivision
2, and five retired judges of the appellate or district courts of this state who have not served
in a party-designated or party-endorsed position, such as legislator, to be appointed in the
manner provided in subdivision 3.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Public members; appointment. new text end

new text begin (a) The secretary of state shall supervise the
appointment of public members to the redistricting commission.
new text end

new text begin (b) By January 15 of each year ending in zero, the secretary of state shall open a widely
publicized process that encourages eligible residents of this state to apply for membership
on the redistricting commission. The secretary of state shall solicit recommendations for
appointment to the redistricting commission from nongovernmental organizations with an
interest in the elections process.
new text end

new text begin (c) The secretary of state shall provide an application form which must be designed to
show (1) that an applicant meets the requirements of this subdivision, (2) that the application
must be submitted under oath affirming the truthfulness of its contents under penalty of
perjury, and (3) the applicant's demographic information, such as gender, race, ethnicity,
and age.
new text end

new text begin (d) The following persons are not eligible to serve as a commissioner:
new text end

new text begin (1) a person who is not eligible to vote;
new text end

new text begin (2) a person under a contract with, or who serves as a consultant or staff to, or who has
an immediate family relationship with the governor, a member of the legislature, or a member
of Congress; and
new text end

new text begin (3) a person, or member of the person's immediate family, who has done any of the
following during the ten years immediately preceding the date of application:
new text end

new text begin (i) been appointed to, elected to, or a candidate for federal or state office;
new text end

new text begin (ii) served as an officer, employee, or paid consultant of a political party or of the
campaign committee of a candidate for elective federal or state office;
new text end

new text begin (iii) served as an elected or appointed member of a political party state central committee;
new text end

new text begin (iv) registered as a federal, state, or local lobbyist or principal;
new text end

new text begin (v) served as paid congressional or legislative staff; or
new text end

new text begin (vi) violated the candidate contribution limits in section 10A.27.
new text end

new text begin (e) For purposes of this subdivision, a member of a person's immediate family means a
sibling, spouse, parent or stepparent, child or stepchild, or in-law.
new text end

new text begin (f) The secretary of state shall process applications as they are received and remove from
the applicant pool any person not eligible to serve as a commissioner and notify the person
of the reason they were removed. To be considered, applications must be received by
September 15 of the year ending in zero. An applicant must provide with the application
two positive references from community leaders or groups that promote civic engagement
with whom the applicant has worked and demonstrate that the applicant:
new text end

new text begin (1) has experience with outreach to community groups to encourage civic participation
with an emphasis on historically disenfranchised groups; or
new text end

new text begin (2) has an interest in or experience with government, elections, or civic life.
new text end

new text begin (g) The secretary of state shall, based on a review of the applications, prepare a list of
120 applicant finalists who have demonstrated based on their application an ability to be
impartial and respect the diversity of this state's many communities. The list must, to the
extent practical, reflect the gender, socioeconomic, age, racial, language, ethnic, and
geographic diversity of the state.
new text end

new text begin (h) The list must include:
new text end

new text begin (1) 40 applicant finalists identifying with the largest major political party in Minnesota;
new text end

new text begin (2) 40 applicant finalists identifying with the second largest major political party in
Minnesota; and
new text end

new text begin (3) 40 applicant finalists identifying their political party preference as belonging to a
party not described in clause (1) or (2) or to no party.
new text end

new text begin For purposes of this paragraph, the two largest political parties are the parties whose
candidates received the greatest and second greatest number of votes at the most recent
gubernatorial election.
new text end

new text begin (i) By December 15 of the year ending in zero, the secretary of state shall give the list
of finalists and their applications to the majority and minority leaders of the senate, the
speaker of the house, and the minority leader of the house of representatives. At an open
meeting, each of the four leaders shall remove 21 applicant finalists from the list: seven
applicant finalists identifying their political party preference with the majority party in the
house of representatives, seven applicant finalists identifying their political party preference
with the minority party in the house of representatives, and seven applicant finalists who
identified their political party preference with a party different than the majority party in
the house of representatives and the minority party of the house of representatives or with
no party. The leaders shall remove applicants one at a time in the order listed above, unless
the leaders agree to a different order.
new text end

new text begin (j) By January 15 of each year ending in one, after the process of removing applicants
from the list is completed, each of the four leaders of the house of representatives and senate
shall give the list of finalists and their applications to the secretary of state. The secretary
of state shall randomly draw four names from the remaining applicants identifying their
political party preference as belonging to the majority party of the house of representatives,
four identifying their political party preference as belonging to the minority party of the
house of representatives, and four identifying their political party preference as belonging
to a different party than the majority party in the house of representatives and the minority
party of the house of representatives or to no party. These 12 persons shall serve as public
member commissioners.
new text end

new text begin (k) The secretary of state's actions under this subdivision are not subject to chapter 14.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Retired judges; appointment. new text end

new text begin By January 15 of each year ending in one, the
four leaders of the house of representatives and senate shall each appoint one retired judge,
after consulting with each other in an effort to attain geographic balance in their
appointments. If the legislative leaders do not make the appointment by the deadline, the
chief justice of the supreme court shall make the appointment by January 22 of that year.
The director of the Legislative Coordinating Commission shall convene a meeting of the
four retired judges by January 29 of that year. The four retired judges shall then appoint the
fifth retired judge by a vote of at least three judges.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Code of conduct. new text end

new text begin (a) In performing their duties, the five retired judges serving
as commissioners shall abide by the Code of Judicial Conduct and are considered judicial
officers.
new text end

new text begin (b) Public members of the commission exercise the function of a public officer.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Removal; filling vacancies. new text end

new text begin (a) A commissioner can be removed with two-thirds
vote of the commission after notice and a hearing for reasons that would justify recall of a
state official under section 211C.02.
new text end

new text begin (b) The commission must remove a commissioner who participates in a communication
that violates subdivision 8.
new text end

new text begin (c) Except for vacancies filled by the chief justice, vacancies on the commission must
be filled by the appointing authority that made the initial appointment and filled within 30
days after the vacancy occurs. The appointing authority for public members is the secretary
of state and must be filled by drawing from the same partisan pool as the vacant position.
If no applicants in the pool are available for service, the secretary of state shall establish a
new pool, as provided in subdivision 2.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Open records. new text end

new text begin The commission is subject to chapter 13, except that a plan is
not public data until it has been submitted to the commission for its consideration.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 7. new text end

new text begin Open meetings. new text end

new text begin The commission is subject to chapter 13D.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 8. new text end

new text begin Open communications. new text end

new text begin (a) A commissioner must not communicate with
legislators regarding the content of a plan. Commission staff must not communicate with
anyone outside of commission staff regarding the content of a plan. The prohibition under
this paragraph does not apply to open meetings of the commission.
new text end

new text begin (b) A commissioner may not direct, request, suggest, or recommend an interpretation
of a districting principle or a change to a district boundary to staff except during open
meetings of the commission.
new text end

new text begin (c) Except for public input and comment, commission staff must not have any
communications about the content or development of any plan outside of public hearings
with anyone except other staff members. Commission staff shall report to the commission
attempts made to exert influence over the staff's role in the drafting of plans.
new text end

new text begin (d) The commission may designate one or more commission staff to communicate with
commissioners regarding administrative matters and may define the scope of the permitted
communication.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 9. new text end

new text begin Lobbyist registration. new text end

new text begin Action of the commission to submit a redistricting plan
to the legislature is an administrative action for purposes of section 10A.01, subdivision
21, requiring certain persons to register as a lobbyist.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 10. new text end

new text begin Compensation and expenses. new text end

new text begin Commissioners must be compensated for their
commission activity as provided in section 15.059, subdivision 3.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 11. new text end

new text begin Plans submitted to commission. new text end

new text begin The commission shall adopt a schedule for
interested persons to submit proposed plans and to respond to plans proposed by others.
The commission shall also adopt standards to govern the format of plans submitted. The
schedule and standards adopted by the commission under this subdivision are not rules.
Chapter 14 and section 14.386 do not apply to this section.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 12. new text end

new text begin Public hearings. new text end

new text begin The Redistricting Commission shall hold at least one public
hearing in each congressional district before adopting the first legislative and congressional
district plans. The commission must ask for input on defining communities of interest for
consideration. The commission must publish on its website preliminary drafts of the
legislative and congressional district plans and each preliminary draft's accompanying
reports at least one week before a hearing required under this subdivision and allow the
public at least 30 days to submit comments after publication.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 13. new text end

new text begin Deadlines. new text end

new text begin (a) By April 30 of each year ending in one, the commission shall
submit plans to the legislature for legislative and congressional districts. Each plan must be
accompanied by a report summarizing information and testimony received by the commission
in the course of the hearings and including any comments and conclusions the commissioners
deem appropriate on the information and testimony received at the hearings or otherwise
presented. Any plan submitted to the legislature must be approved by an affirmative vote
of at least 13 members of the commission.
new text end

new text begin (b) The legislature intends that a bill be introduced to enact each plan and that the bill
be brought to a vote in either the senate or the house of representatives under a procedure
or rule permitting no amendments except those of a purely corrective nature, not less than
one week after the report of the commission was received and made available to the members
of the legislature. The legislature further intends that the bill be brought to a vote in the
second body within one week after final passage in the first body under a similar procedure
or rule. If either the senate or the house of representatives fails to approve a first plan
submitted by the commission, within one week after the failure the secretary of the senate
or the chief clerk of the house must notify the commission of the failure, including any
information that the senate or house of representatives may direct by resolution regarding
reasons why the plan was not approved. If the governor vetoes a plan, the veto message
serves as the notice.
new text end

new text begin (c) The commission shall submit a second plan within two weeks after the commission
received the notice, unless by then the legislature has adjourned the regular session in the
year ending in one, in which case the second plan must be submitted to the legislature at
the opening of its regular session in the year ending in two. The legislature intends that a
second plan be considered by the legislature under the same procedure as provided for a
first plan under paragraph (b).
new text end

new text begin (d) If the commission fails to submit a plan by either of these two deadlines, the legislature
may proceed to enact a plan in place of the missing plan without waiting for the commission
to submit a plan.
new text end

new text begin (e) If the secretary of the senate or the chief clerk of the house notifies the commission
that a second plan has failed, or the governor vetoes a second plan, the commission shall
submit a third plan within two weeks after the commission received the notice, unless by
then the legislature has adjourned the regular session in the year ending in one, in which
case the third plan must be submitted to the legislature at the opening of its regular session
in the year ending in two. The third plan is subject to the same procedure as provided for
first and second plans under paragraph (b).
new text end

new text begin Final approval of all plans, whether enacted by the legislature or as provided by court
order, must take place no later than the date provided in section 204B.14, subdivision 1a.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 14. new text end

new text begin Data used. new text end

new text begin (a) To draw congressional and legislative districts, the Redistricting
Commission shall use, at a minimum, census data representing the entire population of
Minnesota.
new text end

new text begin (b) The Redistricting Commission shall use redistricting population data that includes
data for persons who are incarcerated reflecting their residence to be their last known
residential address before incarceration.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 15. new text end

new text begin Expiration. new text end

new text begin (a) The Redistricting Commission expires when both legislative
and congressional redistricting plans have been enacted into law or adopted by court order
and any legal challenges to the plans have been resolved.
new text end

new text begin (b) If use of a plan is enjoined after the commission expires, the court enjoining the plan
may direct that a new commission be appointed under this section to draft a remedial plan
for presentation to the legislature in accordance with deadlines established by the court's
order.
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 principles in this section apply to legislative and
congressional districts.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Prohibited information. new text end

new text begin (a) No plan shall be drawn to purposefully favor or
disfavor a political party or candidate.
new text end

new text begin (b) Information regarding registered voters, political affiliation, voting history, and
demographics shall be sequestered from the Redistricting Commission for the initial phase
of the process, but may be used to test for compliance with the goals in subdivision 3 and
reports described in section 2.036, subdivision 4.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Priority of principles. new text end

new text begin Redistricting commissioners appointed under section
2.032 shall adhere to the principles in subdivisions 4 to 12 when drawing congressional and
legislative districts. Where it is not possible to fully comply with the principles contained
below, a redistricting plan shall give priority to those principles in the order in which they
are listed, except to the extent that 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) Congressional districts must be as nearly equal in
population as practicable.
new text end

new text begin (b) Legislative districts must be substantially equal in population. The population of a
legislative district must not deviate from the ideal by more than 1.5 percent.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Contiguity. new text end

new text begin The districts must be contiguous allowing for easy travel throughout
the district. Contiguity by water is sufficient if the water is not a serious obstacle to travel
within the district. Districts with areas that touch only at a point are not contiguous.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Minority representation. new text end

new text begin (a) Each district must be drawn in compliance with
all state and federal laws. A district must not be drawn with either the purpose or effect of
diluting, denying, or abridging the right of any citizen of the United States to vote on account
of race, ethnicity, or membership in a language minority group, whether by themselves or
when voting in concert with other people.
new text end

new text begin (b) Racial, ethnic, and language minorities must have an equal opportunity to participate
in the political process and elect candidates of their choice. Racial, ethnic, and language
minorities who constitute less than a voting-age majority of a district must have an
opportunity to substantially influence the outcome of an election.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 7. new text end

new text begin Communities of interest. new text end

new text begin District boundaries shall recognize communities of
interest. A community of interest is a contiguous population sharing common social and
economic interests that should be included within a single district for purposes of the
community's effective and fair representation. Communities of interest include but are not
limited to geographic areas where there are clearly recognizable similarities of social,
cultural, ethnic, economic, or other interests. Examples of shared interests are those common
to an urban area, rural area, industrial area, or agricultural area and those common to areas
in which the people share similar living standards, 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, incumbents, or political
candidates.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 8. new text end

new text begin Political subdivisions. new text end

new text begin Counties, cities, and municipalities should be preserved
to the greatest extent possible and in compliance with the other principles to preserve rather
than divide them among multiple districts.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 9. new text end

new text begin Incumbents. new text end

new text begin The residence of incumbents shall not be taken into consideration
in the development or approval of a proposed plan.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 10. new text end

new text begin Compactness. new text end

new text begin Compactness must be measured by using one or more statistical
tests and must be compact.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 11. new text end

new text begin Partisan symmetry and bias. new text end

new text begin A district must not be drawn in a manner that
unduly favors or disfavors any political party. The commission shall use judicial standards
and the best available scientific and statistical methods to assess whether a plan unduly
favors or disfavors a political party.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 12. new text end

new text begin Numbering. new text end

new text begin (a) 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 (b) 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

Sec. 3.

new text begin [2.036] LEGISLATIVE COORDINATING COMMISSION;
REDISTRICTING.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Administrative support. new text end

new text begin The Legislative Coordinating Commission
shall provide administrative support to the Redistricting Commission.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Database. new text end

new text begin The geographic areas and population counts used in maps, tables,
and legal descriptions of legislative and congressional districts considered by the legislature
must be those used by the Geographic Information Services (GIS) Office of the Legislative
Coordinating Commission. The population counts shall 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. The GIS Office
must make the database available to the public on the GIS Office website.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

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

new text begin A redistricting plan must not be considered
for adoption by the senate or house of representatives until the redistricting 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 shall publish each plan submitted to it on the GIS Office
website.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Reports. new text end

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

new text begin (1) a population equality report, listing each district in the plan, its population as the
total number of persons, and deviations from the ideal as both a 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 the districts;
new text end

new text begin (2) a contiguity report, listing 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 (3) a minority voting-age population report, listing for each district the voting age
population of each racial 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 highlight each district with 30 percent or more total minority population;
new text end

new text begin (4) a communities of interest report, if the chief author of a plan asserts that it preserves
a community of interest, maps of the plan must include a layer identifying the census blocks
within the community of interest. Publication of the plan must also include a report that
lays out the research and process used to identify the communities of interest and lists the
district or districts to which the community of interest has been assigned. The report must
include the number of communities of interest that are split and the number of times the
communities were split;
new text end

new text begin (5) a political subdivision splits report, listing the split counties, cities, towns, unorganized
territories, and precincts, and the district to which each portion of a split subdivision 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, listing for each district the names and populations of the
counties within it and, where 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, listing for each district at least the results of the
Reock, Polsby-Popper, Minimum Convex Hull, Population Polygon, Population Circle,
Ehrenburg, Length-Width, measures of compactness. The report must also state for all the
districts in a plan the sum of its perimeters and the mean of its other measurements. The
commission may consider other tests of compactness; and
new text end

new text begin (8) a partisan bias report, listing multiple measures of partisan symmetry or other
measures of partisan bias as accepted in political science literature and the best available
scientific and statistical methods.
new text end

Sec. 4.

new text begin [204B.136] REDISTRICTING OF LOCAL ELECTION DISTRICTS.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Redistricting plan standards; Redistricting Commission. new text end

new text begin The principles
provided in section 2.035 must be applied to the redistricting of:
new text end

new text begin (1) county commissioner districts, county park districts, and soil and water conservation
supervisor districts in counties with a population greater than 100,000; and
new text end

new text begin (2) wards in cities with a population greater than 75,000.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Population variance. new text end

new text begin The minimum population variance permitted for county
districts and wards may be up to 1.5 percent of the mean population for all districts or wards
in a redistricting plan adopted as provided in this section.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Procedure. new text end

new text begin Redistricting plans required by this section shall be prepared and
adopted by the charter commission, or where such a commission does not exist, by a
redistricting commission of no fewer than seven and no more than 15 members appointed
by the chief judge of the district court in which a majority of the population of the affected
jurisdiction reside.
new text end