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2015 SESSION

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SJ 284 Constitutional amendment; Virginia Redistricting Commission established.

Introduced by: Jill Holtzman Vogel | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles | history

SUMMARY AS PASSED SENATE:

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); Virginia Redistricting Commission. Establishes the Virginia Redistricting Commission which will conduct the decennial reapportionment of the election districts for the House of Representatives and the General Assembly. The amendment also establishes the criteria and process to be used for each decennial reapportionment. The bill incorporates SJ 224.

SUMMARY AS INTRODUCED:

Constitutional amendment (first resolution); Virginia Redistricting Commission. Establishes the Virginia Redistricting Commission to redraw congressional and General Assembly district boundaries after each decennial census. Appointments to the 13-member Commission are to be made in the census year as follows: two each by the President pro tempore of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Delegates, the minority leader in each house, and the state chairman of each of the two political parties receiving the most votes in the prior gubernatorial election. The 12 partisan members then select the thirteenth member by a majority vote or, if they cannot agree on a selection, certify the two names receiving the most votes to the Supreme Court of Virginia, which names the thirteenth member. The Commission is directed to certify district plans for the General Assembly within one month of receipt of the new census data or by April 1 of the year following the census, whichever is later, and for the House of Representatives within three months of receipt of the census data or by June 1 of the year following the census, whichever is later. The standards to govern redistricting plans include the current constitutional standards on population equality, compactness, and contiguity and additional standards to minimize splits of localities and to prohibit consideration of incumbency and political data.