[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3750 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3750

   To reform the congressional redistricting process, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            February 7, 2024

  Ms. Klobuchar (for herself and Ms. Butler) introduced the following 
    bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the 
                               Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To reform the congressional redistricting process, and for other 
                               purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Redistricting Reform Act of 2024''.

SEC. 2. FINDING OF CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY.

    Congress finds that it has the authority to establish the terms and 
conditions States must follow in carrying out congressional 
redistricting after an apportionment of Members of the House of 
Representatives because--
            (1) the authority granted to Congress under article I, 
        section 4 of the Constitution of the United States gives 
        Congress the power to enact laws governing the time, place, and 
        manner of elections for Members of the House of 
        Representatives;
            (2) the authority granted to Congress under section 5 of 
        the 14th Amendment to the Constitution gives Congress the power 
        to enact laws to enforce section 2 of such amendment, which 
        requires Representatives to be apportioned among the several 
        States according to their number;
            (3) the authority granted to Congress under section 5 of 
        the 14th Amendment to the Constitution gives Congress the power 
        to enact laws to enforce section 1 of such amendment, including 
        protections against excessive partisan gerrymandering that 
        Federal courts have not enforced because they understand such 
        enforcement to be committed to Congress by the Constitution;
            (4) of the authority granted to Congress to enforce article 
        IV, section 4, of the Constitution, and the guarantee of a 
        Republican Form of Government to every State, which Federal 
        courts have not enforced because they understand such 
        enforcement to be committed to Congress by the Constitution;
            (5) requiring States to use uniform redistricting criteria 
        is an appropriate and important exercise of such authority; and
            (6) partisan gerrymandering dilutes citizens' votes because 
        partisan gerrymandering injures voters and political parties by 
        infringing on their First Amendment right to associate freely 
        and their Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection of the 
        laws.

SEC. 3. BAN ON MID-DECADE REDISTRICTING.

    A State that has been redistricted in accordance with this Act may 
not be redistricted again until after the next apportionment of 
Representatives 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), unless a court requires the State to 
conduct such subsequent redistricting to comply with the Constitution 
of the United States, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et 
seq.), the terms or conditions of this Act, or applicable State law.

SEC. 4. CRITERIA FOR REDISTRICTING.

    (a) Requiring Plans To Meet Criteria.--A State may not use a 
congressional redistricting plan that is not in compliance with this 
section.
    (b) Ranked Criteria.--Under the redistricting plan of a State, 
there shall be established single-member congressional districts using 
the following criteria as set forth in the following order of priority:
            (1) Districts shall comply with the United States 
        Constitution, including the requirement that they substantially 
        equalize total population, without regard to age, citizenship 
        status, or immigration status.
            (2) Districts shall comply with the Voting Rights Act of 
        1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.), including by creating any 
        districts where, if based upon the totality of the 
        circumstances, 2 or more politically cohesive groups protected 
        by such Act are able to elect representatives of choice in 
        coalition with one another, and all other applicable Federal 
        laws.
            (3)(A) Districts shall be drawn, to the extent that the 
        totality of the circumstances warrant, to ensure the practical 
        ability of a group protected under the Voting Rights Act of 
        1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.) to participate in the political 
        process and to nominate candidates and to elect representatives 
        of choice is not diluted or diminished, regardless of whether 
        or not such protected group constitutes a majority of a 
        district's population, voting age population, or citizen voting 
        age population.
            (B) For purposes of subparagraph (A), the assessment of 
        whether a protected group has the practical ability to nominate 
        candidates and to elect representatives of choice shall require 
        the consideration of the following factors:
                    (i) Whether the group is politically cohesive.
                    (ii) Whether there is racially polarized voting in 
                the relevant geographic region.
                    (iii) If there is racially polarized voting in the 
                relevant geographic region, whether the preferred 
                candidates of the group nevertheless receive a 
                sufficient amount of consistent crossover support from 
                other voters such that the group is a functional 
                majority with the ability to both nominate candidates 
                and elect representatives of choice.
            (4)(A) Districts shall be drawn to represent communities of 
        interest and neighborhoods to the extent practicable after 
        compliance with the requirements of paragraphs (1) through (3).
            (B) For purposes of this paragraph, the term ``community of 
        interest''--
                    (i) means an area for which the record before the 
                entity responsible for developing and adopting the 
                redistricting plan demonstrates the existence of 
                broadly shared interests and representational needs, 
                including shared interests and representational needs 
                rooted in common ethnic, racial, economic, Indian, 
                social, cultural, geographic, or historic identities, 
                or arising from similar socioeconomic conditions; and
                    (ii) may, if the record warrants, include political 
                subdivisions such as counties, municipalities, Indian 
                lands, or school districts, but shall not include 
                common relationships with political parties or 
                political candidates.
            (C) For purposes of subparagraph (A), in considering the 
        needs of multiple, overlapping communities of interest, the 
        entity responsible for developing and adopting the 
        redistricting plan shall give greater weight to those 
        communities of interest whose representational needs would most 
        benefit from the community's inclusion in a single 
        congressional district.
    (c) No Favoring or Disfavoring of Political Parties.--
            (1) Prohibition.--A State may not use a redistricting plan 
        to conduct an election if the plan's congressional districts, 
        when considered cumulatively on a statewide basis, have been 
        drawn with the intent, or have the effect of, materially 
        favoring or disfavoring any political party.
            (2) Determination of effect.--The determination of whether 
        a redistricting plan has the effect of materially favoring or 
        disfavoring a political party shall be based on an evaluation 
        of the totality of circumstances which, at a minimum, shall 
        involve consideration of each of the following factors:
                    (A) Computer modeling based on relevant statewide 
                general elections for Federal office held over the 8 
                years preceding the adoption of the redistricting plan 
                setting forth the probable electoral outcomes for the 
                plan under a range of reasonably foreseeable 
                conditions.
                    (B) An analysis of whether the redistricting plan 
                is statistically likely to result in partisan advantage 
                or disadvantage on a statewide basis, the degree of any 
                such advantage or disadvantage, and whether such 
                advantage or disadvantage is likely to be present under 
                a range of reasonably foreseeable electoral conditions.
                    (C) A comparison of the modeled electoral outcomes 
                for the redistricting plan to the modeled electoral 
                outcomes for alternative plans that demonstrably comply 
                with the requirements of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) 
                of subsection (b) in order to determine whether 
                reasonable alternatives exist that would result in 
                materially lower levels of partisan advantage or 
                disadvantage on a statewide basis. For purposes of this 
                subparagraph, alternative plans considered may include 
                both actual plans proposed during the redistricting 
                process and other plans prepared for purposes of 
                comparison.
                    (D) Any other relevant information, including how 
                broad support for the redistricting plan was among 
                members of the entity responsible for developing and 
                adopting the plan and whether the processes leading to 
                the development and adoption of the plan were 
                transparent and equally open to all members of the 
                entity and to the public.
            (3) Rebuttable presumption.--
                    (A) Trigger.--In any civil action brought under 
                section 7 in which a party asserts a claim that a State 
                has enacted a redistricting plan which is in violation 
                of this subsection, a party may file a motion not later 
                than 30 days after the enactment of the plan (or, in 
                the case of a plan enacted before the date of enactment 
                of this Act, not later than 30 days after the date of 
                enactment of this Act) requesting that the court 
                determine whether a presumption of such a violation 
                exists. If such a motion is timely filed, the court 
                shall hold a hearing not later than 15 days after the 
                date the motion is filed to assess whether a 
                presumption of such a violation exists.
                    (B) Assessment.--To conduct the assessment required 
                under subparagraph (A), the court shall do the 
                following:
                            (i) Determine the number of congressional 
                        districts under the plan that would have been 
                        carried by each political party's candidates 
                        for the office of President and the office of 
                        Senator in the 2 most recent general elections 
                        for the office of President and the 2 most 
                        recent general elections for the office of 
                        Senator (other than special general elections) 
                        immediately preceding the enactment of the 
                        plan, except that if a State conducts a primary 
                        election for the office of Senator which is 
                        open to candidates of all political parties, 
                        the primary election shall be used instead of 
                        the general election and the number of 
                        districts carried by a party's candidates for 
                        the office of Senator shall be determined on 
                        the basis of the combined vote share of all 
                        candidates in the election who are affiliated 
                        with such party.
                            (ii) Determine, for each of the 4 elections 
                        assessed under clause (i), whether the number 
                        of districts that would have been carried by 
                        any party's candidate as determined under 
                        clause (i) results in partisan advantage or 
                        disadvantage in excess of the applicable 
                        threshold described in subparagraph (C). The 
                        degree of partisan advantage or disadvantage 
                        shall be determined by one or more standard 
                        quantitative measures of partisan fairness 
                        that--
                                    (I) use a party's share of the 
                                statewide vote to calculate a 
                                corresponding benchmark share of seats; 
                                and
                                    (II) measure the amount by which 
                                the share of seats the party's 
                                candidate would have won in the 
                                election involved exceeds the benchmark 
                                share of seats.
                    (C) Applicable threshold described.--The applicable 
                threshold described in this subparagraph is, with 
                respect to a State and a number of seats, the greater 
                of--
                            (i) an amount equal to 7 percent of the 
                        number of congressional districts in the State; 
                        or
                            (ii) one congressional district.
                    (D) Description of quantitative measures; 
                prohibiting rounding.--In carrying out this 
                subsection--
                            (i) the standard quantitative measures of 
                        partisan fairness used by the court may include 
                        the simplified efficiency gap but may not 
                        include strict proportionality; and
                            (ii) the court may not round any number.
                    (E) Presumption of violation.--A plan is presumed 
                to violate paragraph (1) if, on the basis of at least 
                one standard quantitative measure of partisan fairness, 
                it exceeds the applicable threshold described in 
                subparagraph (C) with respect to 2 or more of the 4 
                elections assessed under subparagraph (B).
                    (F) Stay of use of plan.--Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of this Act, in any action under this 
                paragraph, the following rules shall apply:
                            (i) Upon filing of a motion under 
                        subparagraph (A), a State's use of the plan 
                        which is the subject of the motion shall be 
                        automatically stayed pending resolution of such 
                        motion.
                            (ii) If after considering the motion, the 
                        court rules that the plan is presumed under 
                        subparagraph (E) to violate paragraph (1), a 
                        State may not use such plan until and unless 
                        the court which is carrying out the 
                        determination of the effect of the plan under 
                        paragraph (2) determines that, notwithstanding 
                        the presumptive violation, the plan does not 
                        violate paragraph (1).
                    (G) No effect on other assessments.--The absence of 
                a presumption of a violation with respect to a 
                redistricting plan as determined under this paragraph 
                shall not affect the determination of the effect or 
                intent of the plan under this section.
            (4) Determination of intent.--A court may rely on all 
        available evidence when determining whether a redistricting 
        plan was drawn with the intent to materially favor or disfavor 
        a political party, including evidence of the partisan effects 
        of a plan, the degree of support the plan received from members 
        of the entity responsible for developing and adopting the plan, 
        and whether the processes leading to development and adoption 
        of the plan were transparent and equally open to all members of 
        the entity and to the public.
            (5) No violation based on certain criteria.--No 
        redistricting plan shall be found to be in violation of 
        paragraph (1) because of the proper application of the criteria 
        set forth in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) of subsection (b), 
        unless one or more alternative plans could have complied with 
        such paragraphs without having the effect of materially 
        favoring or disfavoring a political party.
    (d) Factors Prohibited From Consideration.--In developing the 
redistricting plan for the State, the State may not, except as 
necessary to comply with the criteria described in paragraphs (1) 
through (3) of subsection (b), to achieve partisan fairness and comply 
with subsection (b), and to enable the redistricting plan to be 
measured against the external metrics described in section 5(c), take 
into consideration any of the following factors:
            (1) The residence of any Member of the House of 
        Representatives or candidate.
            (2) The political party affiliation or voting history of 
        the population of a district.
    (e) Additional Criteria.--A State may not rely upon criteria, 
districting principles, or other policies of the State which are not 
set forth in this section to justify non-compliance with the 
requirements of this section.
    (f) Applicability.--
            (1) In general.--This section applies to any authority, 
        whether appointed, elected, judicial, or otherwise, responsible 
        for enacting the congressional redistricting plan of a State.
            (2) Date of enactment.--This section applies to any 
        congressional redistricting plan that would be, or is, in 
        effect after the date of enactment of this Act, regardless of 
        the date of enactment by the State of the congressional 
        redistricting plan.
    (g) Severability of Criteria.--If any provision of this section, or 
the application of any such provision to any person or circumstance, is 
held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this section, and the 
application of such provision to any other person or circumstance, 
shall not be affected by the holding.

SEC. 5. DEVELOPMENT OF PLAN.

    (a) Public Notice and Input.--
            (1) Use of open and transparent process.--The entity 
        responsible for developing and adopting the congressional 
        redistricting plan of a State shall solicit and take into 
        consideration comments from the public throughout the process 
        of developing the plan, and shall carry out its duties in an 
        open and transparent manner which provides for the widest 
        public dissemination reasonably possible of its proposed and 
        final redistricting plans.
            (2) Website.--
                    (A) Features.--The entity described in paragraph 
                (1) shall maintain a public internet site which is not 
                affiliated with or maintained by the office of any 
                elected official and which includes the following 
                features:
                            (i) All proposed redistricting plans and 
                        the final redistricting plan, including the 
                        accompanying written evaluation under 
                        subsection (c).
                            (ii) All comments received from the public 
                        submitted under paragraph (1).
                            (iii) Access in an easily usable format to 
                        the demographic and other data used by the 
                        entity to develop and analyze the proposed 
                        redistricting plans, together with any reports 
                        analyzing and evaluating such plans and access 
                        to software that members of the public may use 
                        to draw maps of proposed districts.
                            (iv) A method by which members of the 
                        public may submit comments directly to the 
                        entity.
                    (B) Searchable format.--The entity described in 
                paragraph (1) shall ensure that all information posted 
                and maintained on the site under this paragraph, 
                including information and proposed maps submitted by 
                the public, shall be maintained in an easily searchable 
                format.
            (3) Multiple language requirements for all notices.--The 
        entity described in paragraph (1) shall make each notice which 
        is required to be posted and published under this section 
        available in any language in which the State (or any 
        jurisdiction in the State) is required to provide election 
        materials under section 203 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 
        (52 U.S.C. 10503).
    (b) Development of Plan.--
            (1) Hearings.--The entity responsible for developing and 
        adopting the congressional redistricting plan shall hold 
        hearings both before and after releasing proposed plans in 
        order to solicit public input on the content of such plans. 
        These hearings shall--
                    (A) be held in different regions of the State and 
                streamed live on the public internet site maintained 
                under subsection (a)(2); and
                    (B) be sufficient in number, scheduled at times and 
                places, and noticed and conducted in a manner to ensure 
                that all members of the public, including members of 
                racial, ethnic, and language minorities protected under 
                the Voting Rights Act of 1965, have a meaningful 
                opportunity to attend and provide input both before and 
                after the entity releases proposed plans.
            (2) Posting of maps.--The entity described in paragraph (1) 
        shall make proposed plans, amendments to proposed plans, and 
        the data needed to analyze such plans for compliance with the 
        criteria of this Act available for public review, including on 
        the public internet site required under subsection (a)(2), for 
        a period of not less than 5 days before any vote or hearing is 
        held on any such plan or any amendment to such a plan.
    (c) Release of Written Evaluation of Plan Against External Metrics 
Required Prior to Vote.--The entity responsible for developing and 
adopting the congressional redistricting plan for a State may not hold 
a vote on a proposed redistricting plan, including a vote in a 
committee, unless at least 48 hours prior to holding the vote the State 
has released a written evaluation that measures each such plan against 
external metrics which cover the criteria set forth in section 4(b), 
including the impact of the plan on the ability of members of a class 
of citizens protected by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 
et seq.) to elect candidates of choice, the degree to which the plan 
preserves or divides communities of interest, and any analysis used by 
the State to assess compliance with the requirements of subsections (b) 
and (c) of section 4.
    (d) Public Input and Comments.--The entity responsible for 
developing and adopting the congressional redistricting plan for a 
State shall make all public comments received about potential plans, 
including alternative plans, available to the public on the internet 
site required under subsection (a)(2), at no cost, not later than 24 
hours prior to holding a vote on final adoption of a plan.

SEC. 6. FAILURE BY STATE TO ENACT PLAN.

    (a) Deadline for Enactment of Plan.--
            (1) In general.--Except as provided in paragraph (2), each 
        State shall enact a final congressional redistricting plan 
        following transmission of a notice of apportionment to the 
        President by the earliest of--
                    (A) the deadline set forth in State law, including 
                any extension to the deadline provided in accordance 
                with State law;
                    (B) February 15 of the year in which regularly 
                scheduled general elections for Federal office are held 
                in the State; or
                    (C) 90 days before the date of the next regularly 
                scheduled primary election for Federal office held in 
                the State.
            (2) Special rule for plans enacted prior to date of 
        enactment of act.--If a State enacted a final congressional 
        redistricting plan prior to the date of enactment of this Act 
        and the plan is not in compliance with the requirements of this 
        Act, the State shall enact a final redistricting plan which is 
        in compliance with the requirements of this Act not later than 
        45 days after the date of enactment of this Act.
    (b) Development of Plan by Court in Case of Missed Deadline.--If a 
State has not enacted a final congressional redistricting plan by the 
applicable deadline under subsection (a), or it appears reasonably 
likely that a State will fail to enact a final congressional 
redistricting plan by such deadline--
            (1) any citizen of the State may file an action in the 
        United States district court for the applicable venue asking 
        the district court to assume jurisdiction;
            (2) the United States district court for the applicable 
        venue, acting through a 3-judge court convened pursuant to 
        section 2284 of title 28, United States Code, shall have the 
        exclusive authority to develop and publish the congressional 
        redistricting plan for the State; and
            (3) the final congressional redistricting plan developed 
        and published by the court under this section shall be deemed 
        to be enacted on the date on which the court publishes the 
        final congressional redistricting plan, as described in 
        subsection (e).
    (c) Applicable Venue.--For purposes of this section, the term 
``applicable venue'' with respect to a State is the District of 
Columbia or the judicial district in which the capital of the State is 
located, as selected by the first party to file with the court 
sufficient evidence that a State has failed to, or is reasonably likely 
to fail to, enact a final redistricting plan for the State prior to the 
expiration of the applicable deadline set forth in subsection (a).
    (d) Procedures for Development of Plan.--
            (1) Criteria.--In developing a redistricting plan for a 
        State under this section, the court shall adhere to the same 
        terms and conditions that applied (or that would have applied, 
        as the case may be) to the development of a plan by the State 
        under section 4.
            (2) Access to information and records.--The court shall 
        have access to any information, data, software, or other 
        records and material that was used (or that would have been 
        used, as the case may be) by the State in carrying out its 
        duties under this Act.
            (3) Hearing; public participation.--In developing a 
        redistricting plan for a State, the court shall--
                    (A) hold one or more evidentiary hearings at which 
                interested members of the public may appear and be 
                heard and present testimony, including expert 
                testimony, in accordance with the rules of the court; 
                and
                    (B) consider other submissions and comments by the 
                public, including proposals for redistricting plans to 
                cover the entire State or any portion of the State.
            (4) Use of special master.--To assist in the development 
        and publication of a redistricting plan for a State under this 
        section, the court may appoint a special master to make 
        recommendations to the court on possible plans for the State.
    (e) Publication of Plan.--
            (1) Public availability of initial plan.--Upon completing 
        the development of one or more initial redistricting plans, the 
        court shall make the plans available to the public at no cost, 
        and shall also make available the underlying data used to 
        develop the plans and a written evaluation of the plans against 
        external metrics (as described in section 5(c)).
            (2) Publication of final plan.--At any time after the 
        expiration of the 14-day period which begins on the date the 
        court makes the plans available to the public under paragraph 
        (1), and taking into consideration any submissions and comments 
        by the public which are received during such period, the court 
        shall develop and publish the final redistricting plan for the 
        State.
    (f) Use of Interim Plan.--In the event that the court is not able 
to develop and publish a final redistricting plan for the State with 
sufficient time for an upcoming election to proceed, the court may 
develop and publish an interim redistricting plan which shall serve as 
the redistricting plan for the State until the court develops and 
publishes a final plan in accordance with this section. Nothing in this 
subsection may be construed to limit or otherwise affect the authority 
or discretion of the court to develop and publish the final 
redistricting plan, including the discretion to make any changes the 
court deems necessary to an interim redistricting plan.
    (g) Appeals.--Review on appeal of any final or interim plan adopted 
by the court in accordance with this section shall be governed by the 
appellate process in section 7.
    (h) Stay of State Proceedings.--The filing of an action under this 
section shall act as a stay of any proceedings in State court with 
respect to the State's congressional redistricting plan unless 
otherwise ordered by the court.

SEC. 7. CIVIL ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) Civil Enforcement.--
            (1) Actions by attorney general.--The Attorney General may 
        bring a civil action for such relief as may be appropriate to 
        carry out this Act.
            (2) Availability of private right of action.--
                    (A) In general.--Any person residing or domiciled 
                in a State who is aggrieved by the failure of the State 
                to meet the requirements of the Constitution or Federal 
                law, including this Act, with respect to the State's 
                congressional redistricting, may bring a civil action 
                in the United States district court for the applicable 
                venue for such relief as may be appropriate to remedy 
                the failure.
                    (B) Special rule for claims relating to partisan 
                advantage.--For purposes of subparagraph (A), a person 
                who is aggrieved by the failure of a State to meet the 
                requirements of section 4(c) may include--
                            (i) any political party or committee in the 
                        State; and
                            (ii) any registered voter in the State who 
                        resides in a congressional district that the 
                        voter alleges was drawn in a manner that 
                        contributes to a violation of such section.
                    (C) No awarding of damages to prevailing party.--
                Except for an award of attorney's fees under subsection 
                (d), a court in a civil action under this section shall 
                not award the prevailing party any monetary damages, 
                compensatory, punitive, or otherwise.
            (3) Delivery of complaint to house and senate.--In any 
        action brought under this section, a copy of the complaint 
        shall be delivered promptly to the Clerk of the House of 
        Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate.
            (4) Exclusive jurisdiction and applicable venue.--The 
        district courts of the United States shall have exclusive 
        jurisdiction to hear and determine claims asserting that a 
        congressional redistricting plan violates the requirements of 
        the Constitution or Federal law, including this Act. The 
        applicable venue for such an action shall be the United States 
        District Court for the District of Columbia or for the judicial 
        district in which the capital of the State is located, as 
        selected by the person bringing the action. In a civil action 
        that includes a claim that a redistricting plan is in violation 
        of subsection (b) or (c) of section 4, the United States 
        District Court for the District of Columbia shall have 
        jurisdiction over any defendant who has been served in any 
        United States judicial district in which the defendant resides, 
        is found, or has an agent, or in the United States judicial 
        district in which the capital of the State is located. Process 
        may be served in any United States judicial district where a 
        defendant resides, is found, or has an agent, or in the United 
        States judicial district in which the capital of the State is 
        located.
            (5) Use of 3-judge court.--If an action under this section 
        raises statewide claims under the Constitution or this Act, the 
        action shall be heard by a 3-judge court convened pursuant to 
        section 2284 of title 28, United States Code.
            (6) Review of final decision.--A final decision in an 
        action brought under this section shall be reviewable on appeal 
        by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of 
        Columbia Circuit, which shall hear the matter sitting en banc. 
        There shall be no right of appeal in such proceedings to any 
        other court of appeals. Such appeal shall be taken by the 
        filing of a notice of appeal within 10 days of the entry of the 
        final decision. A final decision by the Court of Appeals may be 
        reviewed by the Supreme Court of the United States by writ of 
        certiorari.
    (b) Expedited Consideration.--In any action brought under this 
section, it shall be the duty of the district court, the United States 
Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and the Supreme 
Court of the United States (if it chooses to hear the action) to 
advance on the docket and to expedite to the greatest possible extent 
the disposition of the action and appeal.
    (c) Remedies.--
            (1) Adoption of replacement plan.--
                    (A) In general.--If the district court in an action 
                under this section finds that the congressional 
                redistricting plan of a State violates, in whole or in 
                part, the requirements of this Act--
                            (i) the court shall adopt a replacement 
                        congressional redistricting plan for the State 
                        in accordance with the process set forth in 
                        section 6; or
                            (ii) if circumstances warrant and no delay 
                        to an upcoming regularly scheduled election for 
                        the House of Representatives in the State would 
                        result, the district court, in its discretion, 
                        may allow a State to develop and propose a 
                        remedial congressional redistricting plan for 
                        review by the court to determine whether the 
                        plan is in compliance with this Act, except 
                        that--
                                    (I) the State may not develop and 
                                propose a remedial plan under this 
                                clause if the court determines that the 
                                congressional redistricting plan of the 
                                State was enacted with discriminatory 
                                intent in violation of the Constitution 
                                or section 4(b); and
                                    (II) nothing in this clause may be 
                                construed to permit a State to use such 
                                a remedial plan which has not been 
                                approved by the court.
                    (B) Prohibiting use of plans in violation of 
                requirements.--No court shall order a State to use a 
                congressional redistricting plan which violates, in 
                whole or in part, the requirements of this Act, or to 
                conduct an election under terms and conditions which 
                violate, in whole or in part, the requirements of this 
                Act.
                    (C) Special rule in case final adjudication not 
                expected within 3 months of election.--
                            (i) Duty of court.--If final adjudication 
                        of an action under this section is not 
                        reasonably expected to be completed at least 3 
                        months prior to the next regularly scheduled 
                        primary election for the House of 
                        Representatives in the State, the district 
                        court shall--
                                    (I) develop, adopt, and order the 
                                use of an interim congressional 
                                redistricting plan in accordance with 
                                section 6(f) to address any claims 
                                under this Act for which a party 
                                seeking relief has demonstrated a 
                                substantial likelihood of success; or
                                    (II) order adjustments to the 
                                timing of primary elections for the 
                                House of Representatives and other 
                                related deadlines, as needed, to allow 
                                sufficient opportunity for adjudication 
                                of the matter and adoption of a 
                                remedial or replacement plan for use in 
                                the next regularly scheduled general 
                                elections for the House of 
                                Representatives.
                            (ii) Prohibiting failure to act on grounds 
                        of pendency of election.--The court may not 
                        refuse to take any action described in clause 
                        (i) on the grounds of the pendency of the next 
                        election held in the State or the potential for 
                        disruption, confusion, or additional burdens 
                        with respect to the administration of the 
                        election in the State.
            (2) No stay pending appeal.--Notwithstanding the appeal of 
        an order finding that a congressional redistricting plan of a 
        State violates, in whole or in part, the requirements of this 
        Act, no stay shall issue which shall bar the development or 
        adoption of a replacement or remedial plan under this 
        subsection, as may be directed by the district court, pending 
        such appeal. If such a replacement or remedial plan has been 
        adopted, no appellate court may stay or otherwise enjoin the 
        use of such plan during the pendency of an appeal, except upon 
        an order holding, based on the record, that adoption of such 
        plan was an abuse of discretion.
            (3) Special authority of court of appeals.--
                    (A) Ordering of new remedial plan.--If, upon 
                consideration of an appeal under this Act, the Court of 
                Appeals determines that a plan does not comply with the 
                requirements of this Act, it shall direct that the 
                District Court promptly develop a new remedial plan 
                with assistance of a special master for consideration 
                by the Court of Appeals.
                    (B) Failure of district court to take timely 
                action.--If, at any point during the pendency of an 
                action under this section, the District Court fails to 
                take action necessary to permit resolution of the case 
                prior to the next regularly scheduled election for the 
                House of Representatives in the State or fails to grant 
                the relief described in paragraph (1)(C), any party may 
                seek a writ of mandamus from the Court of Appeals for 
                the District of Columbia Circuit. The Court of Appeals 
                shall have jurisdiction over the motion for a writ of 
                mandamus and shall establish an expedited briefing and 
                hearing schedule for resolution of the motion. If the 
                Court of Appeals determines that a writ should be 
                granted, the Court of Appeals shall take any action 
                necessary, including developing a congressional 
                redistricting plan with assistance of a special master 
                to ensure that a remedial plan is adopted in time for 
                use in the next regularly scheduled election for the 
                House of Representatives in the State.
            (4) Effect of enactment of replacement plan.--A State's 
        enactment of a redistricting plan which replaces a plan which 
        is the subject of an action under this section shall not be 
        construed to limit or otherwise affect the authority of the 
        court to adjudicate or grant relief with respect to any claims 
        or issues not addressed by the replacement plan, including 
        claims that the plan which is the subject of the action was 
        enacted, in whole or in part, with discriminatory intent, or 
        claims to consider whether relief should be granted under 
        section 3(c) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 
        10302(c)) based on the plan which is the subject of the action.
    (d) Attorney's Fees.--In a civil action under this section, the 
court may allow the prevailing party (other than the United States) 
reasonable attorney fees, including litigation expenses, and costs.
    (e) Relation to Other Laws.--
            (1) Rights and remedies additional to other rights and 
        remedies.--The rights and remedies established by this section 
        are in addition to all other rights and remedies provided by 
        law, and neither the rights and remedies established by this 
        section nor any other provision of this Act shall supersede, 
        restrict, or limit the application of the Voting Rights Act of 
        1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.).
            (2) Voting rights act of 1965.--Nothing in this Act 
        authorizes or requires conduct that is prohibited by the Voting 
        Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq.).
    (f) Legislative Privilege.--No person, legislature, or State may 
claim legislative privilege under either State or Federal law in a 
civil action brought under this section or in any other legal 
challenge, under either State or Federal law, to a redistricting plan 
enacted under this Act.
    (g) Removal.--
            (1) In general.--At any time, a civil action brought in a 
        State court which asserts a claim for which the district courts 
        of the United States have exclusive jurisdiction under this Act 
        may be removed by any party in the case, including an 
        intervenor, by filing, in the district court for an applicable 
        venue under this section, a notice of removal signed pursuant 
        to Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure containing a 
        short and plain statement of the grounds for removal. Consent 
        of parties shall not be required for removal.
            (2) Claims not within the original or supplemental 
        jurisdiction.--If a civil action removed in accordance with 
        paragraph (1) contains claims not within the original or 
        supplemental jurisdiction of the district court, the district 
        court shall sever all such claims and remand them to the State 
        court from which the action was removed.

SEC. 8. NO EFFECT ON ELECTIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL OFFICE.

    Nothing in this Act may be construed to affect the manner in which 
a State carries out elections for State or local office, including the 
process by which a State establishes the districts used in such 
elections.

SEC. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall apply on the date of enactment of this Act.
                                 <all>