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2004 SESSION

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SJ 59 Constitutional amendment; establishes Redistricting Comm. to redraw boundaries of Cong. & leg. dist.

Introduced by: Mary Margaret Whipple | all patrons    ...    notes | add to my profiles

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 five-member Commission are to be made in the census year as follows: one each by the majority and minority party leaders of the Senate and House of Delegates and a fifth member appointed by the Supreme Court. The Commission is directed to file preliminary district plans for the House of Representatives, Senate, and House of Delegates within 30 days of receipt of the federal census data. Then there is a 30-day period for filing corrections and exceptions. The Commission next files a revised plan within 20 days and a final plan 20 days thereafter. The plans shall be effective for the next regular general election for the Senate, House of Delegates, or House of Representatives. Members in office when a new plan becomes law complete their terms and continue to represent the district as constituted when they were elected. Vacancies occurring before the next general election for the office are to be filled from the district as constituted when the member, whose vacancy is being filled, was elected to office. The standards to govern redistricting plans include the current Constitution's standards on population equality, compactness, and contiguity and an additional standard to minimize splits of localities. The Commission is patterned after the Pennsylvania Legislative Reapportionment Commission.


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