,i  #aaith ,,congress  #b;d ,session    
,h4 ,r4 #ajjhi  ,,in ,,the ,,house ,,of 
,,representatives  ,august #ac1         
#bjbf,mr4 ,gallagher introduced the     
following bill2 which was referred to   
the ,committee on the ,judiciary  ,a    
,,bill  ,to prohibit ,states from       
dividing documented communities of      
interest into multiple congressional    
districts1 and for other purposes4  #a4 
,short title  ,this ,act may be cited as
 the ,representation ,act4  #b4         
,communities of interest preserved in   
redistricting  7a7 ,state requirements  
7#a7 ,identification of communities of  
interest ,prior to any congressional    
redistricting conducted by a ,state1 the
 entity responsible for developing      
congressional redistricting plans in the
 ,state shall-- 7,a7 identify and       
document communities of interest within 
such ,state1 which may be provided in   
accordance with ,state law2  7,b7 accept
 and publish each proposed community of 
interest submitted by a resident of such

 ,state2 and  7,c7 consider adding each 
such proposed community of interest to  
the communities of interest documented  
under subparagraph 7,a74  7#b7          
,prohibition on division of communities 
of interest ,a congressional            
redistricting conducted by a ,state may 
not divide a community of interest      
documented under paragraph 7#a77;,a7    
into multiple congressional districts   
unless such division is necessary-- 7,a7
 to ensure that congressional districts 
in such ,state have substantially equal 
populations as required by law2  7,b7 to
 comply with the requirements of the    
,voting ,rights ,act of #aife 7#eb      
,u4,s4,c4 #ajcja et seq472 or  7,c7 to  
preserve another community of interest  
in a single congressional district4     
7#c7 ,publication of information ,not   
later than the date a congressional     
redistricting plan in a ,state is       
finalized1 the entity responsible for   
developing congressional redistricting  
plans in the ,state shall make          

publically available-- 7,a7 a written   
justification for any instance where a  
community of interest documented under  
paragraph 7#a77;,a7 is divided into     
multiple congressional districts2  7,b7 
a description of the process used to    
consider adding proposed communities of 
interest under paragraph 7#a77;,c72 and 
7,c7 in the case that a community of    
interest documented under paragraph     
7#a77;,a7 is divided into multiple      
congressional districts under paragraph 
7#b77;,c71 an explanation as to--  7i7  
why the division was required to        
preserve the other community of interest
 in a single congressional district2 and
  7ii7 why the preserved community of   
interest was prioritized over the       
divided community of interest4  7b7     
,causes of action  7#a7 ,divided        
community of interest ,an individual who
 resides in a community of interest     
documented under subsection 7a77#a77;,a7
 that has been divided into multiple    
congressional districts in a ,state may 

bring a claim against the ,state in any 
district court of the ,united ,states   
for enforcement of the prohibition in   
subsection 7a77#b74  7#b7 ,failure to   
add proposed community of interest ,an  
individual who resides in a proposed    
community of interest submitted under   
subsection 7a77#a77;,b7 that has not    
been documented under subsection        
7a77#a77;,a7 in a ,state may bring a    
claim in any district court of the      
,united ,states against the entity      
responsible for developing congressional
 redistricting plans in the ,state for--
  7,a7 a declaratory judgment that such 
entity failed to consider such proposed 
community of interest as required in    
subsection 7a77#a77;,c72  7,b7 an order 
requiring such entity to consider such  
proposed community of interest as       
required in subsection 7a77#a77;,c72 and
  7,c7 if the proposed community of     
interest is not documented under        
subsection 7a77#a77;,a7 following such  
consideration1 an order requiring       

publication by such entity of a         
justification for the decision not to   
document such proposed community of     
interest4  7c7 ,assistance to ,states   
,the ,election ,assistance ,commission  
shall develop and make available to     
,states standards and tools for mapping 
communities of interest4  7d7 ,community
 of interest defined ,in this section1 a
 community of interest means a          
geographically connected population with
 shared cultural1 historical1 economic1 
or social characteristics1 including    
language1 education patterns1 religious 
affiliation1 or civic identity4