1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to redistricting; adopting a legislative districting plan for use in 2012 
1.3 	and thereafter; adopting districting principles for legislative districts; amending 
1.4 	Minnesota Statutes 2010, sections 2.031, subdivision 1; 2.91, subdivision 1; 
1.5 	repealing Minnesota Statutes 2010, sections 2.031, subdivision 2; 2.444; 2.484.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 2.031, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
1.8 		Subdivision 1.Legislative districts. (a) The representatives in the senate and house 
1.9 	of representatives are apportioned throughout the state in 67 senate districts and 134 house 
1.10 	of representatives districts. Each senate district is entitled to elect one senator and each 
1.11 	house of representatives district is entitled to elect one representative.
1.12 	(b) Legislative redistricting plan L1102-0, on file with the Geographic Information 
1.13 	Services Office of the Legislative Coordinating Commission and published on its Web site 
1.14 	on December 14, 2011, is adopted and describes the legislative districts within this state. 
1.15 	Each senate district is composed of the two house districts, A and B, of the same number.

1.16 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 2.91, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
1.17 		Subdivision 1.Distribution. Upon enactment of a redistricting plan for the 
1.18 	legislature or for Congress, the Legislative Coordinating Commission shall deposit the 
1.19 	plan with the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall provide copies of the relevant 
1.20 	portions of the redistricting plan to each county auditor, who shall provide a copy of the 
1.21 	relevant portions of the plan to each municipal clerk within the county. The secretary of 
1.22 	state, with the cooperation of the commissioner of administration, shall make copies of the 
1.23 	plan file, maps, and tables available to the public for the cost of publication. The revisor of 
1.24 	statutes shall code a metes and bounds description of the districts, as established pursuant 
2.1 	to legislative enactment or court order,  in Minnesota Statutes no later than the date of the 
2.2 	state primary in the year ending in two.

2.3 	Sec. 3. DISTRICTING PRINCIPLES FOR LEGISLATIVE DISTRICTS.
 2.4 		Subdivision 1.Applicability. The principles in this section apply to legislative 
2.5 	districts.
2.6 		Subd. 2.Nesting. A representative district may not be divided in the formation 
2.7 	of a senate district.
2.8 		Subd. 3.Numbering. Legislative districts must be numbered in a regular series, 
2.9 	beginning with house district 1A in the northwest corner of the state and proceeding across 
2.10 	the state from west to east, north to south, but bypassing the 11-county metropolitan 
2.11 	area until the southeast corner has been reached; then to the 11-county metropolitan area 
2.12 	outside the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul; then in Minneapolis and St. Paul.
2.13 		Subd. 4.Equal population.  The population of a legislative district shall not deviate 
2.14 	by more than two percent from the population of the ideal district.
2.15 		Subd. 5.Minority representation. Legislative districts shall not be drawn with 
2.16 	either the purpose or effect of denying or abridging the voting rights of any United States 
2.17 	citizen on account of race, ethnicity, or membership in a language minority group, and 
2.18 	must otherwise comply with the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United 
2.19 	States Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, United States Code, 
2.20 	title 42, sections 1973 to 1973aa-6.
2.21 		Subd. 6.Contiguity; compactness. Legislative districts shall consist of convenient, 
2.22 	contiguous territory structured into compact units. Contiguity by water is sufficient if the 
2.23 	body of water does not pose a serious obstacle to travel within the district. Legislative 
2.24 	districts with areas that connect only at a single point shall not be considered contiguous.
2.25 		Subd. 7.Minor civil divisions. Political subdivisions shall not be divided more 
2.26 	than necessary to meet constitutional requirements.
2.27 		Subd. 8.Preserving communities of interest. Where possible in compliance with 
2.28 	the preceding principles, communities of interest shall be preserved. For purposes of this 
2.29 	principle, "communities of interest" include, but are not limited to, groups of Minnesota 
2.30 	residents with clearly recognizable similarities of social, geographic, political, cultural, 
2.31 	ethnic, economic, or other interests. Additional communities of interest will be considered 
2.32 	if persuasively established and if consideration thereof would not violate applicable law.
2.33 		Subd. 9.Consideration of plans. Legislative districts shall not be drawn for the 
2.34 	purpose of protecting or defeating an incumbent. The impact of redistricting on incumbent 
2.35 	officeholders is a factor subordinate to all redistricting criteria to determine whether 
3.1 	proposed plans result in either undue incumbent protection or excessive incumbent 
3.2 	conflicts.

3.3 	EFFECTIVE DATE; EXPIRATION.  This section is effective the day following 
3.4 	final enactment and applies to any plan for districts enacted or established for use at the 
3.5 	state primary in 2012 and thereafter. This section expires June 1, 2012.

3.6 	Sec. 4.  REPEALER.
 3.7 	Minnesota Statutes 2010, sections 2.031, subdivision 2; 2.444; and 2.484, are 
3.8 	repealed.

3.9 	Sec. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE.
 3.10 	Except where otherwise provided, this act is effective for the state primary election 
3.11 	in 2012 and thereafter.