Second Regular Session
              Sixty-fourth General Assembly
                    STATE OF COLORADO
                                                INTRODUCED 
                                                           
  
 LLS NO. 04-0368.01 Thomas Morris        HOUSE BILL 04-1043
                    HOUSE SPONSORSHIP
 Fairbank
 
                   SENATE SPONSORSHIP
 (None)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 House Committees
 Senate Committees
 
 
 State, Veterans, & Military Affairs
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                         A BILL FOR AN ACT
       Concerning mandatory criteria to be used by courts in
            determining congressional district boundaries.
       
       
                           Bill Summary
       
            (Note:  This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does
       not necessarily reflect any amendments that may be subsequently
       adopted.)
       
            Prohibits courts from using non-neutral factors, including political
       party registration, political party election performance, and other factors
       that invite the court to speculate about the outcome of an election, in
       determining whether one or more congressional districts are lawful and
       in adopting or enforcing any change to any such district.  Requires courts
       to use only neutral factors in the following order of precedence:
                First, population equality, contiguity, the use of whole
                 general election precincts, and a prohibition on district
                 overlap;
                Second, compliance with the federal "Voting Rights Act of
                 1965";
                Third, preservation of political subdivision boundaries,
                 with precedence given to the most populous counties,
                 cities, and towns;
                Fourth, preservation of communities of interest, including
                 the traditional western slope and eastern plains
                 communities of interest;
                Fifth, compactness; and
                Sixth, minimization of disruption to prior district lines.
       
       
       
       Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
            SECTION 1.  Article 1 of title 2, Colorado Revised Statutes, is
       amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION to read:
            2-1-102.  Neutral criteria for judicial determinations of
       congressional districts.  (1)  In determining whether one or more of
       the congressional districts established in section 2-1-101 are
       lawful and in adopting or enforcing any change to any such
       district, courts shall:
            (a)  Not utilize non-neutral factors.  For purposes of this
       section, "non-neutral factors" include political party
       registration, political party election performance, and other
       factors that invite the court to speculate about the outcome of
       an election.
            (b)  Utilize only neutral factors in the order of
       precedence established in this paragraph (b).  For purposes of
       this section, a "neutral factor" means:
            (I)  First, a good faith effort to achieve precise
       mathematical population equality between districts, justifying
       each variance, no matter how small, as required by the
       constitution of the United States.  Each district shall consist of
       contiguous whole general election precincts.  Districts shall
       not overlap.
            (II)  Second, compliance with the federal "Voting Rights
       Act of 1965", in particular 42 U.S.C. sec. 1973;
            (III)  Third, except when necessary to comply with
       subparagraph (I) or (II) of this paragraph (b), political
       subdivisions such as counties, cities, and towns shall be
       preserved intact and shall not be fragmented or dispersed
       across district lines.  When applying this criterion, preservation
       of the most populous counties, cities, and towns shall take
       precedence.  When county, city, or town boundaries are
       changed, adjustments, if any, in districts shall be as prescribed
       by law.
            (IV)  Fourth, communities of interest, including ethnic,
       cultural, economic, trade area, geographic, and demographic
       factors, shall be preserved within a single district whenever
       possible.  Traditional communities of interest in Colorado
       include the western slope and the eastern plains.
            (V)  Fifth, each congressional district shall be as compact
       in area as possible, and the aggregate linear distance of all
       district boundaries shall be as short as possible; and
            (VI)  Sixth, disruption of prior district lines shall be
       minimized.
            SECTION 2.  Applicability.  This act shall apply to judicial
       determinations of congressional district boundaries occurring on or after
       the effective date of this act.
            SECTION 3.  Safety clause.  The general assembly hereby finds,
       determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate
       preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.