Failure by State to enact plan

(a) Deadline for enactment of plan Except as provided in paragraph (2), each State shall enact a final congressional redistricting plan following transmission of a notice of apportionment to the President by the earliest of— (1) the deadline set forth in State law, including any extension to the deadline provided in accordance with State law; (2) February 15 of the year in which regularly scheduled general elections for Federal office are held in the State; or (3) 90 days before the date of the next regularly scheduled primary election for Federal office held in the State. (b) Development of plan by court in case of missed deadline If a State has not enacted a final congressional redistricting plan by the applicable deadline under subsection (a), or it appears reasonably likely that a State will fail to enact a final congressional redistricting plan by such deadline— (1) any citizen of the State may file an action in the United States district court for the applicable venue asking the district court to assume jurisdiction; (2) the United States district court for the applicable venue, acting through a 3-judge court convened pursuant to section 2284 of title 28, United States Code, shall have the exclusive authority to develop and publish the congressional redistricting plan for the State; and (3) the final congressional redistricting plan developed and published by the court under this section shall be deemed to be enacted on the date on which the court publishes the final congressional redistricting plan, as described in subsection (e). (c) Applicable venue For purposes of this section, the applicable venue with respect to a State is the District of Columbia or the judicial district in which the Capital of the State is located, as selected by the first party to file with the court sufficient evidence that a State has failed to, or is reasonably likely to fail to, enact a final redistricting plan for the State prior to the expiration of the applicable deadline set forth in subsection (a). (d) Procedures for Development of Plan (1) Criteria In developing a redistricting plan for a State under this section, the court shall adhere to the same terms and conditions that applied (or that would have applied, as the case may be) to the development of a plan by the State under section 303. (2) Access to information and records The court shall have access to any information, data, software, or other records and material that was used (or that would have been used, as the case may be) by the State in carrying out its duties under this title. (3) Hearing; public participation In developing a redistricting plan for a State, the court shall— (A) hold one or more evidentiary hearings at which interested members of the public may appear and be heard and present testimony, including expert testimony, in accordance with the rules of the court; and (B) consider other submissions and comments by the public, including proposals for redistricting plans to cover the entire State or any portion of the State. (4) Use of special master To assist in the development and publication of a redistricting plan for a State under this section, the court shall appoint a special master to make recommendations to the court on possible plans for the State. (e) Publication of plan (1) Public availability of initial plan Upon completing the development of one or more initial redistricting plans, the court shall make the plans available to the public at no cost, and shall also make available the underlying data used to develop the plans and a written evaluation of the plans against external metrics (as described in section 304(c)). (2) Publication of final plan At any time after the expiration of the 14-day period which begins on the date the court makes the plans available to the public under paragraph (1), and taking into consideration any submissions and comments by the public which are received during such period, the court shall develop and publish the final redistricting plan for the State. (f) Use of interim plan In the event that the court is not able to develop and publish a final redistricting plan for the State with sufficient time for an upcoming election to proceed, the court may develop and publish an interim redistricting plan which shall serve as the redistricting plan for the State until the court develops and publishes a final plan in accordance with this section. Nothing in this subsection may be construed to limit or otherwise affect the authority or discretion of the court to develop and publish the final redistricting plan, including the discretion to make any changes the court deems necessary to an interim redistricting plan. (g) Appeals Review on appeal of any final or interim plan adopted by the court in accordance with this section shall be governed by the appellate process in section 306. (h) Stay of State proceedings The filing of an action under this section shall act as a stay of any proceedings in State court with respect to the State’s congressional redistricting plan unless otherwise ordered by the court.