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2018 SESSION

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SB 106 Congressional and state legislative districts; standards and criteria.

Introduced by: David R. Suetterlein | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles | history

SUMMARY AS PASSED SENATE:

Standards and criteria for congressional and state legislative districts. Provides criteria by which congressional and state legislative districts are to be drawn, including equal population, racial and ethnic fairness, respect for existing political boundaries, contiguity, compactness, and communities of interest. The criteria set out would apply to those districts drawn following the 2020 United States Census and thereafter. This bill incorporates SB 718, SB 740, and SB 752 and is identical to HB 1598.

SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:

Congressional and state legislative districts; compactness standard. Requires congressional and state legislative districts to be composed of compact territory, meaning districts are not to be oddly shaped or have irregular or contorted boundaries, unless justified because the district adheres to political subdivision lines. Fingers or tendrils extending from a district core are to be avoided, as are thin and elongated districts and districts with multiple core populations connected by thin strips of land or water. The bill requires the General Assembly to employ one or more standard numerical measures of individual and average district compactness to provide an objective assessment of a districting plan's compactness, both statewide and district by district.