End Prison Gerrymandering Act

End Prison Gerrymandering Act

This bill requires the Department of Commerce, beginning with the 2030 decennial census, to attribute an individual incarcerated in a correctional center to the individual's last place of residence before incarceration. Further, a state must treat such an individual's last place of residence in the state before incarceration as the individual's place of residence for purposes of congressional redistricting.

Bill 117 HR 6550, also known as the End Prison Gerrymandering Act, aims to address the issue of prison gerrymandering in the United States. Prison gerrymandering occurs when incarcerated individuals are counted as residents of the district where they are imprisoned, rather than their home communities, for the purpose of drawing legislative districts. This practice can distort political representation by artificially inflating the population of certain districts with prisons, leading to unequal representation for communities where incarcerated individuals come from.

The End Prison Gerrymandering Act seeks to end this practice by requiring that incarcerated individuals be counted as residents of their last known address for the purpose of redistricting. This would ensure that political representation is based on the actual population of a district, rather than the presence of a prison facility.

The bill has garnered bipartisan support, with lawmakers from both parties recognizing the need to address the issue of prison gerrymandering and ensure fair representation for all communities. Supporters argue that the current practice of counting incarcerated individuals as residents of prison districts is unfair and undermines the democratic process. If passed, the End Prison Gerrymandering Act would have significant implications for how legislative districts are drawn in the United States. By counting incarcerated individuals at their last known address, the bill aims to promote more accurate and equitable representation for all communities, regardless of the presence of a prison facility.