removal, failure to meet the qualifications of appointment, refusal or inability to accept an appointment, or otherwise, must be filled as soon as possible by the designated appointing authority from the designated pool of eligible applicants for that commissioner's position and in the same manner as the originally chosen commissioner; except that no commissioner chosen to fill a vacancy will be bypassed for appointment if all congressional districts are already represented on the commission.
(12) For purposes of this section, the state's two largest political parties shall be determined by the number of registered electors affiliated with each political party in the state according to voter registration data published by the secretary of state for the earliest day in January of the redistricting year for which such data is published.
Source: Entire article added, effective August 1, 1876, see L. 1877, p. 44. Initiated 62: Entire section R&RE, see L. 63, p. 1045. Initiated 66: Entire section R&RE, see L. 67, p. 11 of the supplement to the 1967 Session Laws. Initiated 74: Entire section was amended, effective upon proclamation of the Governor, December 20, 1974, but does not appear in the session laws. Referred 2018: Entire section R&RE, Amendment Z, L. 2018, p. 3098, effective upon proclamation of the Governor, December 19, 2018. See L. 2019, p. 4543.
Cross references: (1) For historical background of and cases construing "Amendment No. 7" in 1962, sections 45 to 48 of this article, see section 45 of this article.
(2) For composition of congressional districts, see § 2-1-101; for composition of senatorial districts, see § 2-2-102; for composition of representative districts, see § 2-2-202.
Section 48.Commission organization - procedures - transparency - voting requirements. (1) Initial organization, officers, procedures, rules, and transparency. (a) The governor shall convene the commission no later than March 30 of the redistricting year and appoint a temporary chairperson from the commission's members. Upon convening, the commission shall elect a chair and a vice-chair, who are not members of the same political party, and other such officers as it determines.
(b) The director of research of the legislative council and the director of the office of legislative legal services, or the directors of successor nonpartisan offices of the general assembly, shall appoint nonpartisan staff from their respective offices as needed to assist the commission and the panel of judges as described in section 47 of this article V. Nonpartisan staff shall acquire and prepare all necessary resources, including computer hardware, software, and demographic, geographic, and political databases, as far in advance as necessary to enable the commission to begin its work immediately upon convening.
(c) The commission may retain legal counsel in all actions and proceedings in connection with the performance of its powers, duties, and functions, including representation of the commission before any court.
(d) The general assembly shall appropriate sufficient funds for the payment of the expenses of the commission, the compensation and expenses of nonpartisan staff, and the compensation and expenses of the panel of judges as described in section 47 of this article V. Members of the commission shall be reimbursed for their reasonable and necessary expenses and may also receive such per diem allowance as may be established by the general assembly. Subject to available appropriations, hardware and software necessary for the development of
