Save American Democracy Act

119 HR 5879 IH: SAD Act U.S. House of Representatives 2025-10-31 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. I 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 5879 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES October 31, 2025 Mr. Vicente Gonzalez of Texas (for himself, Mr. Doggett , Mr. Veasey , Mr. Castro of Texas , Ms. Garcia of Texas , and Ms. Escobar ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To prohibit States from carrying out more than one Congressional redistricting after a decennial census and appointment unless it is strictly mandated in the legislation used to implement the new Congressional map or it is necessary to comply with the Constitution of the United States, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, or the Constitution of the State, and for other purposes. 1. Short title; finding of constitutional authority (a) Short title This Act may be cited as the Save American Democracy Act or the SAD Act . (b) Finding of Constitutional authority Congress finds that it has the authority to establish the terms and conditions States must follow in carrying out Congressional redistricting after an apportionment of Members of the House of Representatives because— (1) the authority granted to Congress under article I, section 4 of the Constitution of the United States gives Congress the power to enact laws governing the time, place, and manner of elections for Members of the House of Representatives; and (2) the authority granted to Congress under section 5 of the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution gives Congress the power to enact laws to enforce section 2 of such amendment, which requires Representatives to be apportioned among the several States according to their number. 2. Prohibition with respect to mid-decade redistricting (a) In general A State which has redistricted in the manner provided by law after an apportionment under section 22(a) of the Act entitled An Act to provide for the fifteenth and subsequent decennial censuses and to provide for an apportionment of Representatives in Congress , approved June 18, 1929 ( 2 U.S.C. 2a ), may not be redistricted again until after the next apportionment under such Act unless— (1) a court requires the State to conduct such subsequent redistricting to comply with the Constitution of the United States, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 ( 52 U.S.C. 10301 et seq. ), or the Constitution of the State; or (2) legislation enacted by the State to implement such redistricting expressly requires such subsequent redistricting. (b) Rule of construction Nothing in this Act may be construed to affect the manner in which a State carries out elections for State or local office. (c) Effective date This section shall apply with respect to any Congressional redistricting which occurs after the regular decennial census conducted during 2020.