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SF2026 (Legislative Session 94 (2025-2026))

Districting principles provision for congressional and legislative districts

AI Generated Summary

This bill proposes changes to Minnesota's redistricting process for congressional and legislative districts. Key provisions include:

  1. Redistricting Principles:

    • Districts must be contiguous, compact, and substantially equal in population.
    • Redistricting must comply with the U.S. Constitution, the Voting Rights Act, and the Minnesota Constitution.
    • Districts should provide fair representation for racial, ethnic, and language minorities.
    • Tribal reservations should only be divided under specific conditions.
    • Communities of interest should be preserved as much as possible.
    • Political subdivisions (counties, cities, school districts, towns) should be minimally divided.

  2. Prohibition Against Favoritism:

    • The redistricting process cannot intentionally favor or disfavor any incumbent or candidate.

  3. Proportional Representation of Statewide Partisan Preference:

    • The proportion of districts favoring a political party must closely correspond with the statewide partisan preference of voters.
    • This determination will be based on voting trends from the past six years.
    • A deviation of no more than three percentage points is allowed.

Overall, the bill aims to make redistricting more fair, competitive, and representative of Minnesota voters’ preferences while ensuring compliance with legal and constitutional requirements.

Bill text versions

Actions

DateChamberWhereTypeNameCommittee Name
February 26, 2025HouseFloorActionIntroduction and first reading
February 26, 2025SenateFloorActionIntroduction and first reading
February 26, 2025HouseFloorActionReferred toState and Local Government
February 26, 2025SenateFloorActionReferred toElections

Citations

 
[
  {
    "analysis": {
      "added": [],
      "removed": [],
      "summary": "Amends the principles and procedures for correcting errors in redistricting plans under section 2.91, subdivision 2.",
      "modified": [
        "Revises protocols for handling territory omissions, overlaps, and ambiguities in redistricting plans."
      ]
    },
    "citation": "2.91",
    "subdivision": "subdivision 2"
  },
  {
    "analysis": {
      "added": [
        "New principles prioritizing equal population, minority representation, and contiguous territory."
      ],
      "removed": [],
      "summary": "Establishes districting principles for congressional and legislative districts in Minnesota Statutes section 2.94.",
      "modified": []
    },
    "citation": "2.94",
    "subdivision": ""
  },
  {
    "analysis": {
      "added": [
        "Requirements for considering statewide partisan preferences when drawing district boundaries."
      ],
      "removed": [],
      "summary": "Proposes guidelines for ensuring redistricting plans reflect statewide partisan preferences under section 2.95.",
      "modified": []
    },
    "citation": "2.95",
    "subdivision": ""
  }
]

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