Redistricting Reform Act of 2025

Independent 15-member commissions would draw US House maps in every state — with partisan gerrymandering banned outright.

The details

Congressional district maps would be drawn by independent commissions instead of state legislatures. Every state with more than one House seat would set up a 15-member commission. Five members come from the largest party, five from the second largest, and five from neither. A nonpartisan state agency picks the first six at random in a public meeting. Those six then choose the remaining nine, and each pick needs at least one vote from all three groups. Maps would have to satisfy ranked criteria in a fixed order. Equal population under the Constitution comes first, then the Voting Rights Act, including coalition districts. Third is protecting a minority group's practical ability to elect its candidate of choice. That applies even where the group is not a majority of the district. Communities of interest come fourth — neighborhoods tied by shared economic, cultural, geographic, or historic bonds. Shared party or candidate loyalty explicitly does not count as a community of interest. Partisan gerrymandering would be barred by intent or by effect. Courts would judge effect using computer modeling of the last eight years of statewide federal elections. They would compare a challenged map against alternative maps meeting the same rules. Mid-decade redistricting would also be blocked until the next census, unless a court orders it. All commission meetings would be public, on a website no elected official controls. If a state misses its deadline, any citizen can sue and a three-judge federal court draws the map. The Election Assistance Commission would pay states $150,000 per House seat to run the process. The Attorney General and private citizens could both sue to enforce the rules. State and local district lines are untouched. Everything takes effect with the 2030 census, except the mid-decade ban.