1. Constitutional Citations
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a) Congressional Redistricting:
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Article II, § II
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b) Legislative Redistricting:
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Article IV, §§ II, III
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2. Statutory or Other Citations
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a) Description of Current Congressional Districts:
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None (commission)
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b) Description of Current Legislative Districts:
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None (commission)
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c) Districting Principles or Procedure:
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None
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3. Congressional Districts
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a) Present Number:
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13
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b) Prospective Number after 2010 Census:
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12
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4. State Legislative Districts
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a) Senate
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Number of Districts:
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40
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Number of Multimember Districts:
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0
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Largest Number of Seats in a District:
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1
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b) House
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Number of Districts:
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40
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Number of Multimember Districts:
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40
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Largest Number of Seats in a District:
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2
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c) House Districts Nested within Senate Districts?
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Yes
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5. Redistricting Requirements
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a) Initial Responsibility for Drawing Congressional Districts
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Redistricting Commission
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b) Initial Responsibility for Drawing Legislative Districts:
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Apportionment Commission
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c) Legislative Committee Responsible for Redistricting:
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N/A
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d) Use Apportionment Board or Commission?
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Yes
Legislative plan: The chairs of the two major parties each select five members. If these ten members cannot develop a plan in the allotted time, the chief justice of the state Supreme Court appoints an eleventh member.
Congressional plan: President of the Senate, speaker of the General Assembly, Senate minority leader, House minority leader, and chairs of the two largest political parties each appoint two members. Seven of these members may vote to appoint the thirteenth, independent member, to serve as chair. Otherwise, the state Supreme Court selects the independent chair, choosing between the two candidates who received the most votes on the commission’s last ballot.
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e) Gubernatorial Veto Power over Congressional Plan?
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No
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f) Gubernatorial Veto Power over Legislative Plan?
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No
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6. Redistricting Deadlines
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a) Congressional Deadline:
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Third Tuesday of each year ending in two, or within three months of receipt of census by Governor, whichever is later.
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Basis for Deadline:
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Constitution
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Effect of Failure to Meet Deadline:
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The two plans with the most votes, more than five, are submitted to supreme court, which selects the plan that conforms most closely to the requirements of the Constitution and federal law.
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b) Legislative Deadline:
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One month after receipt by Governor of census count for state from Clerk of U.S. House, or February 1, 2011, whichever is later.
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Basis for Deadline:
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Constitution
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Effect of Failure to Meet Deadline:
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State supreme court appoints eleventh member. New commission has one month to certify plan to secretary of state.
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7. Voting Rights Act Information for the 2000s
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Preclearance Required?
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No
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Justice Department Objection to Plans?
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N/A
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8. State Contacts
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Frank Parisi
Principal Research Analyst
Office of Legislative Services
Room 277 State House Annex, P.O. Box 068
Trenton, NJ 08625-0068
609/292-9106
609/777-4606 Fax
FParisi@njleg.org
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Yustina Saleh
Director of Business Services
Department of Labor & Workforce Development
1 John Fitch Plaza
Trenton, NJ 08625
609/984-2593
609/633-3645 Fax
yustina.saleh@dol.state.nj.us
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