H.R. 10089: Representation Act

This bill would change how states draw congressional district boundaries after a census or other redistricting process.

What states would have to do

• Before drawing congressional maps, a state would have to identify and document “communities of interest.”
• States would also have to accept community-of-interest proposals submitted by residents and make those proposals public.
• The state would have to consider whether to add resident-submitted communities to its official list.

Limits on splitting communities

The bill would generally forbid states from splitting a documented community of interest across multiple congressional districts.

A split would only be allowed if it was necessary to:

• keep congressional districts roughly equal in population;
• comply with the Voting Rights Act; or
• preserve another community of interest within a single district.

Public explanations

If a state does split a documented community of interest, it would have to publicly explain why. It would also have to explain:

• how it reviewed resident-submitted proposed communities of interest;
• why the split was needed, if it was done to preserve a different community of interest; and
• why one community was kept whole while another was divided.

Legal challenges

The bill would let individuals go to federal court to challenge a state if:

• their documented community of interest was split across districts; or
• their proposed community of interest was not properly considered or documented.

If a court finds a problem, it could order the state entity responsible for redistricting to consider the proposal and, in some cases, explain why it was not accepted.

Federal support for states

The Election Assistance Commission would be required to create and provide standards and tools to help states map communities of interest.

What counts as a “community of interest”

The bill defines this as a geographically connected group of people who share cultural, historical, economic, or social traits. Examples include shared language, education patterns, religious affiliation, or civic identity.

Relevant Companies

None found