Category: The Rules

Legislative Integrity and Anti-Gerrymandering

Section 1. Congressional districts in each State shall be drawn by an independent, nonpartisan redistricting commission. No State legislature, governor, or officer of a political party shall serve on or direct such commission.

Section 2. Each commission shall consist of an equal number of members registered with the two largest political parties and an equal or greater number of members registered with no political party, selected through a transparent public process established by Congress.

Section 3. Districts shall be contiguous, shall preserve existing political subdivisions where practicable, shall be substantially equal in population, and shall not be drawn with the intent or effect of favoring any political party, incumbent, or candidate.

Section 4. Any citizen may bring an action in federal court to challenge a redistricting plan. Courts shall apply strict scrutiny to any plan that produces a partisan outcome disproportionate to statewide voter registration by more than five percentage points.

Section 5. Congress shall establish a Federal Redistricting Standards Commission to promulgate rules and hear appeals within two years of ratification of this article.

Amending the U.S. Constitution

The Constitution can be amended through two stages: proposal and ratification. There are multiple pathways for each.

Stage 1: Proposal (choose one method)

• Congressional proposal — Both the House of Representatives and the Senate must approve the proposed amendment by a two-thirds supermajority vote in each chamber. This is the only method used so far for all 27 amendments.
• Constitutional Convention — Two-thirds of state legislatures (34 states) can call for a national convention to propose amendments. This method has never been used.

Stage 2: Ratification (choose one method)

• State legislatures — Three-fourths of all states (currently 38 of 50) must ratify the amendment through their state legislatures. This is the most common method.
• State conventions — Three-fourths of states ratify through specially convened state conventions. This has only been used once — to ratify the 21st Amendment (repealing Prohibition) in 1933.

Additional notes

• Congress chooses which ratification method will be used.
• There is no set time limit for ratification unless Congress specifies one (though a 7-year deadline is commonly attached).
• The President has no formal role — the President cannot veto a constitutional amendment.
• Once ratified, an amendment becomes part of the Constitution and cannot be struck down by the Supreme Court (though it can be repealed by a subsequent amendment, as was done with the 18th Amendment).
• The process is intentionally difficult to ensure broad consensus before fundamental law is changed.