28 CFR § 51.59 - Redistricting plans.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t28/s51.59"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "28 CFR § 51.59 - Redistricting plans."
title_number: 28
title_name: "Judicial Administration"
section_number: "51.59"
section_name: "Redistricting plans."
chapter_name: "DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE"
part_number: "51"
part_name: "PROCEDURES FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF SECTION 5 OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965, AS AMENDED"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "5 U.S.C. 301; 28 U.S.C. 509, 510, and 42 U.S.C. 1973b, 1973c."
regulatory_source: "52 FR 490, Jan. 6, 1987, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "51"
---


# 51.59 Redistricting plans.

(a) *Relevant factors.* In determining whether a submitted redistricting plan has a prohibited purpose or effect the Attorney General, in addition to the factors described above, will consider the following factors (among others):

(1) The extent to which malapportioned districts deny or abridge the right to vote of minority citizens;

(2) The extent to which minority voting strength is reduced by the proposed redistricting;

(3) The extent to which minority concentrations are fragmented among different districts;

(4) The extent to which minorities are over concentrated in one or more districts;

(5) The extent to which available alternative plans satisfying the jurisdiction's legitimate governmental interests were considered;

(6) The extent to which the plan departs from objective redistricting criteria set by the submitting jurisdiction, ignores other relevant factors such as compactness and contiguity, or displays a configuration that inexplicably disregards available natural or artificial boundaries; and

(7) The extent to which the plan is inconsistent with the jurisdiction's stated redistricting standards.

(b) *Discriminatory purpose.* A jurisdiction's failure to adopt the maximum possible number of majority-minority districts may not be the sole basis for determining that a jurisdiction was motivated by a discriminatory purpose.

[Order No. 3262-2011, 76 FR 21249, Apr. 15, 2011]