Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY-17) introduced the Fair Apportionment and Independent Redistricting for Maps that Avoid Partisanship Act (FAIR MAP Act) (H.R. 7219), legislation that would, among other provisions:
- (a) set requirements for the drawing of Congressional districts;
- (b) allow for only one round of Congressional redistricting following any decennial census;
- (c) require a decennial census question on whether someone is a citizen or a legal alien, and exclude “aliens without lawful status” from apportionment counts, starting with the 2030 Census; and
- (d) require cases challenging redistricting to be brought in a U.S. district court.
H.R. 7219 would also prohibit states from using ranked choice voting in federal elections, require photo ID or signature verification for voting in Federal elections, and prohibit same-day voter registration for federal elections.
The bill, which has one cosponsor, has been referred to the House Judiciary, Oversight and Government Reform and Administration Committees.
“Voting rights and equal representation only work if the system itself is fair, transparent, and trusted. My FAIR MAP Act puts clear guardrails around congressional redistricting, ends mid-decade political map rigging, and ensures that federal elections reflect the voices of lawful voters, not partisan gamesmanship. Every voter deserves confidence that the system is fair and that their vote counts the same as anyone else’s,” according to the sponsor.
(a) Requirements for congressional districts
The FAIR MAP Act would require Congressional districts “established on or after the date of the enactment of this Act” to “meet each of the following requirements”:
- “Each congressional district in the State shall consist of contiguous territory (except to the extent necessary to include any area which is surrounded by a body of water).”
- “Each congressional district in the State shall be as compact in form as practicable.”
- “No congressional district in the State shall be drawn to discourage competition, or for the purpose of favoring or disfavoring an incumbent, a particular candidate, or a particular political party. In establishing congressional districts, the State shall consider the maintenance of cores of existing districts, of pre-existing political subdivisions, including counties, cities, and towns, and of communities of interest.”
- “To the extent practicable, the population of each congressional district in the State shall not vary from the population of any other congressional district in the State (as determined on the basis of the total count of citizens of the United States and aliens with lawful status under the immigration laws (as such term is defined in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101)) of the most recent decennial census conducted by the Bureau of the Census).”
(b) Limit on congressional redistricting after an apportionment
The bill would amend 2 U.S.C. 2c by adding at the end the following: “A State which has been redistricted in the manner provided by law after an apportionment under section 22(a) of the Act entitled ‘An Act to provide for the fifteenth and subsequent decennial censuses and to provide for an apportionment of Representatives in Congress’, approved June 18, 1929 (2 U.S.C. 2a), may not be redistricted again until after the next apportionment of Representatives under such section, unless a court requires the State to conduct such subsequent redistricting to comply with the Constitution, to enforce the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 1973 et seq.), or to comply with the FAIR MAP Act.”
(c) Exclusion of aliens without lawful status under the immigration laws from number of persons used to determine apportionment of representatives and number of electoral votes
The legislation would require “the 2030 decennial census and each decennial census thereafter” to “include in any questionnaire distributed or otherwise used for the purpose of determining the total population by States a checkbox or other similar option for the respondent to indicate, for the respondent and for each of the members of the household of the respondent, whether that individual is a citizen of the United States or an alien with lawful status under the immigration laws (as such term is defined in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101)).”
It would also amend 2 U.S.C. 2a(a) by inserting after “not taxed” the following: “and aliens without lawful status under the immigration laws (as such term is defined in section 101 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101))”.
This amendment would “apply with respect to the apportionment of Representatives carried out pursuant to the decennial census conducted during 2030 and any succeeding decennial census.”
(d) Congressional redistricting challenges
“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any challenge to the congressional districts established by a State” would need to “be brought in a district court of the United States.”
This piece of the bill would “apply with respect to congressional districts established on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.”
