Section 44. 3. Criteria for determinations of congressional districts - definition.

1. (1) In adopting a congressional redistricting plan, the commission shall:

   1. (a) Make a good-faith effort to achieve precise mathematical population equality between districts, justifying each variance, no matter how small, as required by the constitution of the United States. Districts must be composed of contiguous geographic areas;
   2. (b) Comply with the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, 52 U. S. C. sec. 50301, as amended.

2. (2)

   1. (a) As much as is reasonably possible, the commission's plan must preserve whole communities of interest and whole political subdivisions, such as counties, cities, and towns.
   2. (b) Districts must be as compact as is reasonably possible.

3. (3)

   1. (a) Thereafter, the commission shall, to the extent possible, maximize the number of politically competitive districts.
   2. (b) In its hearings in various locations in the state, the commission shall solicit evidence relevant to competitiveness of elections in Colorado and shall assess such evidence in evaluating proposed maps.
   3. (c) When the commission approves a plan, or when nonpartisan staff submits a plan in the absence of the commission's approval of a plan as provided in section 44. 4 of this article V, the nonpartisan staff shall, within seventy-two hours of such action, make publicly available, and include in the commission's record, a report to demonstrate how the plan reflects the evidence presented to, and the findings concerning, the extent to which competitiveness in district elections is fostered consistent with the other criteria set forth in this section.
   4. (d) For purposes of this subsection (3), competitive means having a reasonable potential for the party affiliation of the district's representative to change at least once between federal decennial censuses. Competitiveness may be measured by factors such as a proposed district's past election results, a proposed district's political party registration data, and evidence-based analyses of proposed districts.

4. (4) No map may be approved by the commission or given effect by the supreme court if:

   1. (a) It has been drawn for the purpose of protecting one or more incumbent members, or one or more declared candidates, of the United States house of representatives or any political party; or
   2. (b) It has been drawn for the purpose of or results in the denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen to vote on account of that person's race or membership in a language minority group, including diluting the impact of that racial or language minority group's electoral influence.

Source: Referred 2018: Entire section added, Amendment Y, L. 2018, p. 3091, effective upon proclamation of the Governor, December 19, 2018. See L. 2019, p. 4542.

Editor's note: In In re Interrogatories on Senate Bill 21-247, 2021 CO 37, 488 P. 3d 1008, the Colorado Supreme Court concluded that the provisions of SB 21-247 that sought to direct the operation of the redistricting commissions and their nonpartisan staffs would violate sections 44 to 44. 6 and sections 46 to 48. 4 of this article if enacted. In addition, the provision of SB 21-247 that sought to define the standard that courts should apply to determine compliance with Amendments Y and Z would violate article III and article VI, section 1, of the Colorado Constitution if enacted.