Virtual File - Item

Text: House Concurrent Resolution No. 2
adopted May 13, 1991
A House concurrent resolution
relating to legislative redistricting; establishing standards for redistricting plans.
BE IT RESOLVED, by the House of Representatives of the State of Minnesota, the Senate concurring therein:
A plan presented to the Senate or House of Representatives for redistricting seats in the Senate and House of
Representatives must adhere to the following standards:
(I) The Senate must be composed of 67 members. The House of Representatives must be composed of 134
members.
(2) Each district is entitled to elect a single member.
(3) A representative district may not be divided in the formation of a senate district.
(4) The districts must be substantially equal in population. The population of a district must not deviate from the
ideal by more than two percent, plus or minus.
(5) The districts must be composed of convenient contiguous territory. To the extent consistent with the other
standards in this resolution, districts should be compact. Contiguity by water is sufficient if the water is not a serious
obstacle to travel within the district.
(6) The districts must be numbered in a regular series, beginning with House district lA in the northwest corner of
the state and proceeding across the state from west to east, north to south, but bypassing the seven-county
metropolitan area until the southeast corner has been reached; then to the seven-county metropolitan area outside the
cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul; then in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
(7) The districts must not dilute the voting strength of racial or language minority populations. Where a
concentration of a racial or language minority makes it possible, the districts must increase the probability that
members of the minority will be elected.
(8) A county, city, or town should not be divided into more than one district except as necessary to meet equalpopulation requirements or to form districts that are composed of convenient contiguous territory.
(9) The districts should attempt to preserve communities of interest where that can be done in compliance with the
preceding standards.
(10) The geographic areas and population counts used in maps, tables, and legal descriptions of the districts must be
those used by the Legislative Coordinating Commission's Subcommittee on Redistricting.
The Subcommittee on Redistricting will notify the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives when the necessary 1990 census data has been received from the United States Census Bureau,
loaded into the Subcommittee's computerized redistricting system, and verified as ready for use in redistricting. A
redistricting plan will not be considered for adoption by the Senate or House of representatives until the notice has
been given.