Joint Rule No. 21. Redistricting criteria

            A. To promote the development of constitutionally and legally acceptable redistricting plans, the Legislature of Louisiana adopts the criteria contained in this Joint Rule, declaring the same to constitute minimally acceptable criteria for consideration of redistricting plans in the manner specified in this Joint Rule.

            B. Each redistricting plan submitted for consideration shall comply with the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution; Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended; and all other applicable federal and state laws.

            C. Each redistricting plan submitted for consideration shall provide that each district within the plan is composed of contiguous geography.

            D. In addition to the criteria specified in Paragraphs B, C, G, H, I, and J of this Joint Rule, the minimally acceptable criteria for consideration of a redistricting plan for the House of Representatives, Senate, Public Service Commission, and Board of Elementary and Secondary Education shall be as follows:

            (1) The plan shall provide for single-member districts.

            (2) The plan shall provide for districts that are substantially equal in population. Therefore, under no circumstances shall any plan be considered if the plan has an absolute deviation of population which exceeds plus or minus five percent of the ideal district population.

            (3) The plan shall be a whole plan which assigns all of the geography of the state.

            (4) Due consideration shall be given to traditional district alignments to the extent practicable.

            E. In addition to the criteria specified in Paragraphs B, C, G, H, I, and J of this Joint Rule, the minimally acceptable criteria for consideration of a redistricting plan for Congress shall be as follows:

            (1) The plan shall provide for single-member districts.

            (2) The plan shall provide that each congressional district shall have a population as nearly equal to the ideal district population as practicable.

            (3) The plan shall be a whole plan which assigns all of the geography of the state.

            F. In addition to the criteria specified in Paragraphs B, C, G, H, I, and J of this Joint Rule, the minimally acceptable criteria for consideration of a redistricting plan for the Supreme Court shall be that the plan shall be a whole plan which assigns all of the geography of the state.

            G.(1) To the extent practicable, each district within a redistricting plan submitted for consideration shall contain whole election precincts as those are represented as Voting Districts (VTDs) in the most recent Census Redistricting TIGER/Line Shapefiles for the State of Louisiana which corresponds to the P.L. 94-171 data released by the United States Bureau of the Census for the decade in which the redistricting is to occur. However, if the redistricting plan is submitted after the year in which the legislature is required by Article III, Section 6, of the Constitution of Louisiana to reapportion, then to the extent practicable, the redistricting plan submitted for consideration shall contain whole election precincts as those are represented as VTDs as validated through the data verification program of the House and Senate in the most recent Shapefiles made available on the website of the legislature.

            (2) If a VTD must be divided, it shall be divided into as few districts as practicable using a visible census tabulation boundary or boundaries.

            H. All redistricting plans shall respect the established boundaries of parishes, municipalities, and other political subdivisions and natural geography of this state to the extent practicable. However, this criterion is subordinate to and shall not be used to undermine the maintenance of communities of interest within the same district to the extent practicable.

            I. The most recent P.L. 94-171 data released by the United States Bureau of the Census, as validated through the data verification program of the House and Senate, shall be the population data used to establish and for evaluation of proposed redistricting plans.

            J. Each redistricting plan submitted to the legislature by the public for consideration shall be submitted electronically in a comma-delimited block equivalency file.

            HCR 90, 2021 R.S., eff. June 11, 2021.