While states are responsible for drawing congressional districts every ten years, Congress has the power under the Constitution’s Elections Clause (Art. I, sec. 4) to set rules governing how states draw districts. Congress has used this power in the past, for example, to mandate that states use single-member districts.
Below are the redistricting and census-related bills that members have filed during the 116th Congress. For information on redistricting and census-related bills filed in state legislatures, please visit our State Redistricting Bill Tracker.
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H.R. 1: Bill to enact various democracy reforms, including requiring states to create fifteen-member independent commissions to draw congressional districts and establishing redistricting criteria
- Ranked criteria include racial fairness provision, protection for communities of interest, and ban on partisan gerrymandering
- Requires at least three public hearings before and after a plan is drafted; requires the commission to submit a report that includes responses to public comment alongside the final plan
H.R. 4: Bill revising the coverage formula for jurisdictions that must preclear election law changes – including redistricting plans – under Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
H.R. 36: Bill expressing sense of Congress that partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts should be banned
H.R. 44: Bill prohibiting states from carrying out mid-decade congressional redistricting
H.R. 124: Bill prohibiting states from carrying out mid-decade congressional redistricting, requiring states to create political appointee commissions for congressional redistricting, and establishing redistricting criteria
- Criteria partially ranked
- Requires commission to create a website for public notice and input
H.R. 130: Identical bill to H.R. 124
H.R. 131: Bill requiring certain measures of transparency during congressional redistricting, requiring state redistricting entities to:
- Create a website for public notice and input
- Hold at least one public hearing on both the preliminary and final plans
- Release a report accompanying the final plan explaining the reasons for adoption
H.R. 163: Bill requiring states to create commissions and implement open primaries for federal elections
H.R. 181: Bill limiting the penalty imposed on individuals who refuse to answer questions on the decennial census
H.R. 732: Bill prohibiting the Secretary of Commerce from implementing a design feature or adding any question not tested for at least three years to the decennial census
H.R. 794: Bill directing the Secretary of Commerce to adjust federal census population data to reflect incarcerated persons’ pre-incarceration residential addresses
H.R. 1320: Bill requiring the decennial census to include a citizenship question
H.R. 1612: Bill to enact various democracy reforms, including requiring states to create fifteen-member independent commissions to draw congressional districts and establishing redistricting criteria
- Ranked criteria, including racial fairness provision, protection for communities of interest, and ban on partisan gerrymandering
- Requires at least three public hearings before and after a plan is drafted; requires the commission to submit a report that includes responses to public comment alongside the final plan
H.R. 1734: Bill prohibiting the inclusion of citizenship, nationality, or immigration status questions on the decennial census
H.R. 1799: Bill revising the coverage formula for determining the jurisdictions that must preclear election law changes – including redistricting plans – under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
H.R. 2057: Bill directing the Attorney General to enter into an agreement with the National Academies to study and recommend best congressional redistricting practices to Congress
H.R. 3572: Bill requiring states to create fifteen-member independent commissions to draw congressional districts and establishing redistricting criteria
- Ranked criteria include racial fairness provision, protection for communities of interest, and a ban on partisan gerrymandering
- Requires at least three public hearings before and after a plan is drafted; requires the commission to submit a report that includes responses to public comment alongside the final plan
H.R. 3765: Companion bill to S. 1358
H.R. 4000: Bill enacting ranked choice voting and multimember congressional districts, creating fifteen-member independent commissions to draw congressional districts, and establishing redistricting criteria
- Ranked criteria, including racial fairness provision and ban on statewide partisan gerrymandering
- Requires at least three public hearings before and after a plan is drafted; requires the commission to submit a report that includes responses to public comment alongside the final plan
H.R. 4412: Bill prohibiting the U.S. Census Bureau from including citizenship information in the population data reported to states for legislative redistricting
S. 201: Bill requiring the decennial census to count the total number of people in each state and prohibiting the addition of citizenship or immigration status questions
S. 358: Companion bill to H.R. 732
S. 561: Companion bill to H.R. 4
S. 949: Bill to enact various democracy reforms, including requiring states to create fifteen-member independent commissions to draw congressional districts and establishing redistricting criteria
- Ranked criteria, including racial fairness provision, protection for communities of interest, and ban on partisan gerrymandering
- Requires at least three public hearings before and after a plan is drafted; requires the commission to submit a report that includes responses to public comment alongside the final plan
S. 1358: Bill requiring the decennial census to include a citizenship question
S. 1972: Bill establishing redistricting criteria
- Congressional districts only
- Unranked criteria, including racial fairness provision, protection for communities of interests, and ban on partisan gerrymandering
- Provides for the right of any eligible voter in a state to contest a gerrymandered map
S.2068: Bill prohibiting the Secretary of Commerce from including citizenship information in the population data reported to states for legislative redistricting
S.2233: Bill nullifying the effect of Executive Order 13880 (“Collecting Information About Citizenship Status in Connection With the Decennial Census”)
S. 2226: Bill requiring states to create fifteen-member independent commissions to draw congressional districts and establishing redistricting criteria
- Ranked criteria include racial fairness provision, protection for communities of interest, and a ban on partisan gerrymandering
- Requires at least three public hearings before and after a plan is drafted; requires the commission to submit a report that includes responses to public comment alongside the final plan