Nebraska voters would decide whether a commission draws election maps

A legislative screening committee would appoint a nine-person Commission on Redistricting to draw and recommend election maps. The commission would cover all federal and state election districts. It would include three registered voters affiliated with each of the two largest political parties and three affiliated with neither. The amendment would take effect only if Nebraska voters approved it. The first commission would be appointed by March 1, 2031, with a new commission appointed every ten years after that.

The commission would hold public meetings, consider public comments, and recommend maps for the Legislature to approve. The process would cover all federal and state election districts. The commission would hold at least one meeting in each congressional district and share proposed maps and related data at least seven days before its first meeting. At least two commissioners from each of the three groups would have to support a recommendation. If lawmakers rejected maps, the commission would redraw and resubmit them; lawmakers could not redraw the districts themselves. The commission would start work by April 1 and recommend maps by August 1 of each year it is established.

The commission would use ranked rules to draw districts and would generally avoid using voters' political affiliation or past voting data. The rules would apply when drawing all federal and state election districts. The rules would prioritize federal law, connected districts, nearly equal populations, voting rights regardless of race or language, keeping local boundaries together, and avoiding intentional favoritism toward or against a party or incumbent. Political affiliation or past voting data could be considered when federal law requires it or to check whether maps follow the rules. Any Nebraska registered voter could sue in Lancaster County District Court to enforce the requirements.

Applicants and commissioners would have to meet political and public-office restrictions. These restrictions would apply to commission applicants, commissioners, and their immediate family. Applicants could not have changed political affiliation in the three years before applying. Commissioners and their immediate family could not hold, or have held within the previous five years, certain political, elected, or lobbying roles. Former commissioners could not hold state office for five years after their service ended. The five-year limit on state office would begin when a commissioner's service ends.