Reprinted
January 26, 2010
SENATE BILL No. 80
_____
DIGEST OF SB 80
(Updated January 25, 2010 4:25 pm - DI 75)
Citations Affected: IC 2-1.
Synopsis: Legislative district guidelines. Establishes standards for
drawing legislative districts.
Effective: July 1, 2010.
January 5, 2010, read first time and referred to Committee on Elections.
January 11, 2010, reported favorably _ Do Pass.
January 25, 2010, read second time, amended, ordered engrossed.
Reprinted
January 26, 2010
Second Regular Session 116th General Assembly (2010)
PRINTING CODE. Amendments: Whenever an existing statute (or a section of the Indiana
Constitution) is being amended, the text of the existing provision will appear in this style type,
additions will appear in
this style type, and deletions will appear in
this style type.
Additions: Whenever a new statutory provision is being enacted (or a new constitutional
provision adopted), the text of the new provision will appear in
this style type. Also, the
word
NEW will appear in that style type in the introductory clause of each SECTION that adds
a new provision to the Indiana Code or the Indiana Constitution.
Conflict reconciliation: Text in a statute in
this style type or
this style type reconciles conflicts
between statutes enacted by the 2009 Regular and Special Sessions of the General Assembly.
SENATE BILL No. 80
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning the
general assembly.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
SOURCE: IC 2-1-9-13; (10)SB0080.2.1. -->
SECTION 1. IC 2-1-9-13 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE
AS A
NEW SECTION TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE JULY
1, 2010]:
Sec. 13. (a) Legislative and congressional districts
established under this article must satisfy the following standards:
(1) Districts must preserve traditional neighborhoods.
(2) Districts must preserve local communities of interest based
upon cultural, ethnic, geographic, and socioeconomic
similarities.
(3) Districts must protect minority voting rights consistent
with Indiana and federal law, as interpreted by the Indiana
and federal courts.
(4) Districts must be compact, particularly where population
density is greatest, to avoid dividing communities of interest.
(5) Districts must have simple shapes. However, rational and
logical deviations may occur in a district's boundaries to
follow a political subdivision's boundaries or to follow natural
geographic boundaries.
(6) Districts must respect county boundary lines. However, a
district boundary may cross a county boundary to preserve
economic, social, and geographic populations and to
approximate the ideal population of the district as closely as
possible. The number of counties used to comprise a district
should be kept to a minimum, and the counties within a
district should be as contiguous as possible.
(7) To prevent division of communities of interest, prevent
voter confusion, and minimize administrative costs of
elections, districts must, when practicable, not divide
precincts.
(b) Districts may deviate from the standards stated in subsection
(a) and may satisfy other factors when appropriate.