Bill Text: NC H783 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Independent Redistricting Commission
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 8-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-04-07 - Ref to the Com on Elections, if favorable, Judiciary [H783 Detail]
Download: North_Carolina-2011-H783-Amended.html
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2011
H 1
HOUSE BILL 783
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Short Title: Independent Redistricting Commission. |
(Public) |
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Sponsors: |
Representative Blust (Primary Sponsor). For a complete list of Sponsors, see Bill Information on the NCGA Web Site. |
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Referred to: |
Elections, if favorable, Judiciary. |
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April 7, 2011
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to amend the constitution to establish an independent redistricting commission to handle redistricting after the 2020 census and thereafter.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1. Effective beginning with the redistricting done upon the return of the 2020 decennial census, Section 3 of Article II of the North Carolina Constitution reads as rewritten:
"Sec. 3. Senate districts; apportionment of Senators.
The Senators shall be elected from districts. The General
Assembly, at the first regular session convening The Independent
Redistricting Commission, beginning as soon as practical after the return
of every decennial census of population taken by order of Congress, shall
revise the senate districts and the apportionment of Senators among those
districts, subject to the following requirements:so that, to the
extent possible, those districts meet the following goals:
(1) Each Senator shall represent, as nearly
as may be, an equal number of inhabitants, the number of inhabitants that each
Senator represents being determined for this purpose by dividing the population
of the District that he represents by the number of Senators apportioned to
that district;
(2) Each senate district shall at all times
consist of contiguous territory;
(3) No county shall be divided in the
formation of a senate district;
(4)
(1) The goal of compactness, to avoid elongated and irregularly shaped districts.
(2) The goal of one person, one vote to ensure each voter's vote.
(3) The goal of minimizing the number of split counties, municipalities, and other communities of interest.
Precincts shall not be split in the preparation of a plan for State Senate districts. All districts shall be contiguous.
When established, the senate districts and the apportionment of Senators shall remain unaltered until the return of another decennial census of population taken by order of Congress."
SECTION 2. Effective beginning with the redistricting done upon the return of the 2020 decennial census, Section 5 of Article II of the North Carolina Constitution reads as rewritten:
"Sec. 5. Representative districts; apportionment of Representatives.
The Representatives shall be elected from districts. The
General Assembly, at the first regular session convening The
Independent Redistricting Commission, as soon as practical after the return
of every decennial census of population taken by order of Congress, shall
revise the representative districts and the apportionment of Representatives
among those districts, subject to the following requirements:so that,
to the extent possible, those districts meet the following goals:
(1) Each Representative shall represent, as
nearly as may be, an equal number of inhabitants, the number of inhabitants
that each Representative represents being determined for this purpose by
dividing the population of the district that he represents by the number of
Representatives apportioned to that district;
(2) Each representative district shall at
all times consist of contiguous territory;
(3) No county shall be divided in the
formation of a representative district;
(4)
(1) The goal of compactness, to avoid elongated and irregularly shaped districts.
(2) The goal of one person, one vote to ensure each voter's vote.
(3) The goal of minimizing the number of split counties, municipalities, and other communities of interest.
Precincts shall not be split in the preparation of a plan for State House of Representatives districts. All districts shall be contiguous.
When established, the representative districts and the apportionment of Representatives shall remain unaltered until the return of another decennial census of population taken by order of Congress."
SECTION 3. Effective January 1, 2020, Article II of the North Carolina Constitution is amended by adding a new section to read:
"Sec. 25. Independent Redistricting Commission.
(1) Establishment and membership. There is established the Independent Redistricting Commission to consist of nine persons appointed as follows:
(a) Two by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, with no more than one affiliated with the same political party;
(b) Three by the Governor, with no more than two affiliated with the same political party;
(c) One by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and one by the leader in the House of Representatives of the political party with the next highest or equal number of members of the House of Representatives as the party of the Speaker; and
(d) One by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and one by the leader in the Senate of the political party in the Senate with the next highest or equal number of Senators as the party of the President Pro Tempore.
If there are two or more parties other than the Speaker's party in the House of Representatives with equal membership, the leaders in that chamber of the tied parties other than the Speaker's party shall draw lots to determine which shall make the appointment. If there are two or more parties other than the President Pro Tempore's party in the Senate with equal membership, the leaders in that chamber of the tied parties other than the President Pro Tempore's party shall draw lots to determine which shall make the appointment.
The appointing officers shall appoint the initial members of the Independent Redistricting Commission as soon as practicable after this Section becomes effective. Subsequent to the initial appointments, the appointing officers shall make their appointments, other than vacancy appointments, no earlier than February 1 of the year prior to the year in which the appointed members are to take office under subsection (2) of this Section and no later than June 1 of the year in which the members are to take office under subsection (2) of this Section. The appointing officers, in making their appointments, shall take into account the advisability of having the Commission reflect the State's geographic, gender, racial, and ethnic diversity.
(2) Term of office; vacancies; chair. The initial members of the Independent Redistricting Commission shall take office as soon as practicable after their appointment. The initial members shall serve until their successors are appointed and qualified. Subsequent to the initial appointments, the members of the Independent Redistricting Commission shall take office on the first day of July of each year ending in the number zero and shall continue in office until their successors are appointed and qualified. Any vacancy occurring in the membership of the Commission shall be filled for the remainder of the unexpired term by the officer who appointed the vacating member. The Independent Redistricting Commission shall elect from its members a Chair, who will serve throughout the term of the Commission unless replaced by vote of the Commission.
(3) Eligibility. To be eligible for appointment to the Independent Redistricting Commission, a person must be a resident of North Carolina. No person may serve on the Commission who has held elective public office or been a candidate for elective public office in the four years prior to commencement of service on the Independent Redistricting Commission. No person who has served as a member of the Independent Redistricting Commission shall be eligible to hold any elective State office for four years after termination of service on the Independent Redistricting Commission.
(4) Legislative plans. The Independent Redistricting Commission shall adopt, in accordance with Sections 3 and 5 of this Article, plans for revising the Senate districts and House of Representatives districts, which shall have the force and effect of acts of the General Assembly. The General Assembly shall not adopt any legislative district plan.
(5) Congressional plans. The Independent Redistricting Commission is responsible for adopting a district plan for election of members of the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States. The General Assembly shall not adopt any district plan for election of members of the United States House of Representatives.
(6) Preparation and adoption of plans. The Independent Redistricting Commission shall adopt district plans as required by subsections (4) and (5) of this Section no later than October 1 of the year following each decennial census of population taken by order of Congress. In preparing or adopting its plans, the Independent Redistricting Commission shall not consider the following information:
(a) The political affiliation of voters;
(b) Voting data from previous elections;
(c) The location of incumbents' residences; or
(d) Demographic data from sources other than the United States Bureau of the Census. In the use of Census data, racial and ethnic data shall be used only for the purposes of compliance with the United States Constitution and laws enacted pursuant thereto.
There shall be a minimum period of 45 days of public comment on a plan before it is finally adopted.
(7) In case plan held invalid. The Independent Redistricting Commission shall adopt a new district plan in the event that a plan it has adopted is held invalid.
(8) Federal and State law. In adopting any plan under this Section, the Independent Redistricting Commission shall take into consideration all relevant requirements of the United States Constitution and Acts of Congress. It shall comply with the North Carolina Constitution as enunciated by the North Carolina Supreme Court.
(9) Local redistricting. The General Assembly may by law assign to the Independent Redistricting Commission the duty to adopt districting and redistricting plans for any county, city, town, special district, and other governmental subdivision if the governing board of the unit or a court of competent jurisdiction so requests."
SECTION 4. Effective January 1, 2021, subsection (5) of Section 22 of Article II of the North Carolina Constitution reads as rewritten:
"(5) Other exceptions. Appointments
to office. Every bill:
(a) In bill in which the General
Assembly makes an appointment or appointments to public office and which
contains no other matter;
(b) Revising the senate districts and the
apportionment of Senators among those districts and containing no other matter;
(c) Revising the representative districts and
the apportionment of Representatives among those districts and containing no
other matter; or
(d) Revising the districts for the election
of members of the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States
and the apportionment of Representatives among those districts and containing
no other matter, matter shall be read three times in each house
before it becomes law and shall be signed by the presiding officers of both houses."
SECTION 5. The amendments set out in Sections 1 through 4 of this act shall be submitted to the qualified voters of the State at the general election in November 2012, which election shall be conducted under the laws then governing elections in the State. Ballots, voting systems, or both may be used in accordance with Chapter 163 of the General Statutes. The question to be used in the voting systems and ballots shall be:
"[ ] FOR [ ] AGAINST
A constitutional amendment providing for an Independent Redistricting Commission to redistrict the State for the purpose of electing members of the General Assembly and members of the United States House of Representatives."
SECTION 6. If a majority of votes cast on the question are in favor of the amendments set out in Sections 1 through 4 of this act, the State Board of Elections shall certify the amendments to the Secretary of State. The amendments become effective as provided in this act. The Secretary of State shall enroll the amendments so certified among the permanent records of that office.
SECTION 7. This act is effective when it becomes law.
