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Title II — Multi-member Districts

H.R. 4000 · 116th Congress · Jul 25, 2019 · Lineage

II Multi-member Districts

Sec. 201 Requiring use of multi-member districts in certain States

(a)
Rules for States with six or more representatives— If a State is entitled to six or more Representatives in Congress under an apportionment made 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(a)), the State shall establish a number of districts for the election of Representatives in the State that is less than the number of Representatives to which the State is entitled, and Representatives shall be elected only from districts so established.
(b)
Criteria for number of districts— In establishing the number of districts for the State under subsection (a), the State shall follow the following criteria:
(1)
The State shall ensure that districts shall each have equal population per Representative as nearly as practicable, in accordance with the Constitution of the United States.
(2)
The number of Representatives to be elected from any district may not be fewer than three or greater than five.

Sec. 202 Requiring certain States to elect all Representatives at large

If a State is entitled to five or fewer Representatives in Congress under an apportionment made 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(a)), the State shall elect all such Representatives at large.

Sec. 203 Establishing minimum number of candidates in general election

(a)
States with partisan nominating primaries—
(1)
In general— If, in a primary election for the office of Representative, the candidates that advance to the general election do so by winning the nomination of a political party (without regard to whether or not the election is open or closed to voters on the basis of political party preference), the State shall ensure that the number of candidates to be nominated by each political party is equal to the number of Representatives who will be elected from the district involved.
(2)
Authority of political parties to determine number of candidates advancing in multi-seat elections— Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in the case of a primary election described in such paragraph which is a multi-seat primary election, a State may permit a political party to adopt a rule that provides for such number of nominees of that political party to advance to the general election as the party considers appropriate, so long as the number is not less than two.
(3)
Multi-seat primary election defined— In this subsection, the term multi-seat primary election means a primary election held to select the candidates for a general election in which more than one Representative shall be elected.
(b)
States with nonpartisan blanket primaries—
(1)
Number of candidates— If a State uses a nonpartisan blanket primary election to determine which candidates will advance to the general election for the office of Representative, the State shall ensure that the number of candidates who advance to the general election for the office is not less than the greater of—
(A)
five;
(B)
twice the number of Representatives who will be elected from the district involved; or
(C)
such greater number as the State may establish by law.
(2)
Nonpartisan blanket primary election defined— In this subsection, a “nonpartisan blanket primary election” is a primary election for the office of Representative conducted prior to the date established under section 25 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (2 U.S.C. 7) for the regularly scheduled general election for such office, under which—
(A)
each candidate for such office, regardless of the candidate’s political party preference or lack thereof, shall appear on a single ballot;
(B)
each voter in the State who is eligible to vote in elections for Federal office in the district involved may cast a ballot in the election, regardless of the voter’s political party preference or lack thereof; and
(C)
the identification and number of candidates who advance to the general election for the office is determined without regard to the candidates’ political party preferences or lack thereof.
(c)
Exception for states not holding primary elections prior to date of regularly scheduled general election— In the case of a State that does not hold primary elections for the office of Representative prior to the date established under section 25 of the Revised Statutes of the United States (2 U.S.C. 7) for the regularly scheduled general election for such offices, all seats shall be elected at the election taking place on such date.

Sec. 204 Conforming amendments

(a)
Election of Representatives prior to reapportionment— Section 22(c) 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(c)), is amended by striking “Until a State” and inserting “Except as provided in title II of the Fair Representation Act, until a State”.
(b)
Number of Representatives— Section 22(b) of the Act entitled “An Act to provide for apportioning Representatives in Congress among the several States by the equal proportions method”, approved November 15, 1941 (2 U.S.C. 2b), is amended by striking “Each State” and inserting “Except as provided in title II of the Fair Representation Act, each State”.
(c)
Number of Representatives from each district— The Act entitled “An Act for the relief of Doctor Ricardo Vallejo Samala and to provide for congressional redistricting”, approved December 14, 1967 (2 U.S.C. 2c), is amended by striking “In each State” and inserting “Except as provided in title II of the Fair Representation Act, in each State”.
(d)
Nomination for Representatives at large— Section 5 of the Act entitled “An Act For the apportionment of Representatives in Congress among the several States under the Thirteenth Census”, approved August 8, 1911 (2 U.S.C. 5), is amended by striking “Candidates for Representative” and inserting “Except as provided in title II of the Fair Representation Act, candidates for Representative”.

Sec. 205 Exception for States in which use of multi-member districts will result in diminishment of voting rights

(a)
Exception— If the written evaluation of any of the redistricting plans of the independent redistricting commission of a State under subtitle B of title III with respect to the apportionment of Representatives resulting from a decennial census, as developed and published under section 313(e), indicates that the redistricting plan will deny or abridge the right to vote by having the effect of diminishing the ability of any citizens of the United States on account of race or color, or in contravention of the guarantees set forth in section 4(f)(2) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (52 U.S.C. 10303(f)(2)), to elect their preferred candidates of choice—
(1)
this title shall not apply with respect to any election held in the State which is based on the apportionment of Representatives to which such redistricting plan would apply; and
(2)
the independent redistricting commission shall (in accordance with subtitle B of title III) develop and publish a redistricting plan for the State for purposes of title III under which there are no multi-member districts in the State.
(b)
No effect on other requirements— Nothing in this section shall be construed to waive the application of any of the other titles of this Act or the amendments made by any of the other titles of this Act to a State for which there are no multi-member districts as a result of this section, including the requirement to use ranked choice voting as set forth in title I or the requirement to carry out congressional redistricting in the State through the use of independent redistricting commissions as set forth in title III.

Sec. 206 Effective date

This title and the amendments made by this title shall apply with respect to the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress and each subsequent Congress.