N.Y. Const. art. III, § 5-b: An independent redistricting commission established

§ 5-b. (a) On or before February first of each year ending with a zero

and at any other time a court orders that congressional or state

legislative districts be amended, an independent redistricting

commission shall be established to determine the district lines for

congressional and state legislative offices. The independent

redistricting commission shall be composed of ten members, appointed as

follows:

(1) two members shall be appointed by the temporary president of the

senate;

(2) two members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly;

(3) two members shall be appointed by the minority leader of the

senate;

(4) two members shall be appointed by the minority leader of the

assembly;

(5) two members shall be appointed by the eight members appointed

pursuant to paragraphs (1) through (4) of this subdivision by a vote of

not less than five members in favor of such appointment, and these two

members shall not have been enrolled in the preceding five years in

either of the two political parties that contain the largest or second

largest number of enrolled voters within the state;

(6) one member shall be designated chair of the commission by a

majority of the members appointed pursuant to paragraphs (1) through (5)

of this subdivision to convene and preside over each meeting of the

commission.

(b) The members of the independent redistricting commission shall be

registered voters in this state. No member shall within the last three

years:

(1) be or have been a member of the New York state legislature or

United States Congress or a statewide elected official;

(2) be or have been a state officer or employee or legislative

employee as defined in section seventy-three of the public officers law;

(3) be or have been a registered lobbyist in New York state;

(4) be or have been a political party chairman, as defined in

paragraph (k) of subdivision one of section seventy-three of the public

officers law;

(5) be the spouse of a statewide elected official or of any member of

the United States Congress, or of the state legislature.

(c) To the extent practicable, the members of the independent

redistricting commission shall reflect the diversity of the residents of

this state with regard to race, ethnicity, gender, language, and

geographic residence and to the extent practicable the appointing

authorities shall consult with organizations devoted to protecting the

voting rights of minority and other voters concerning potential

appointees to the commission.

(d) Vacancies in the membership of the commission shall be filled

within thirty days in the manner provided for in the original

appointments.

(e) The legislature shall provide by law for the compensation of the

members of the independent redistricting commission, including

compensation for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the

performance of their duties.

(f) A minimum of five members of the independent redistricting

commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business

or the exercise of any power of such commission prior to the appointment

of the two commission members appointed pursuant to paragraph (5) of

subdivision (a) of this section, and a minimum of seven members shall

constitute a quorum after such members have been appointed, and no

exercise of any power of the independent redistricting commission shall

occur without the affirmative vote of at least a majority of the

members, provided that, in order to approve any redistricting plan and

implementing legislation, the following rules shall apply:

(1) In the event that the speaker of the assembly and the temporary

president of the senate are members of the same political party,

approval of a redistricting plan and implementing legislation by the

commission for submission to the legislature shall require the vote in

support of its approval by at least seven members including at least one

member appointed by each of the legislative leaders.

(2) In the event that the speaker of the assembly and the temporary

president of the senate are members of two different political parties,

approval of a redistricting plan by the commission for submission to the

legislature shall require the vote in support of its approval by at

least seven members including at least one member appointed by the

speaker of the assembly and one member appointed by the temporary

president of the senate.

(g) In the event that the commission is unable to obtain seven votes

to approve a redistricting plan on or before January first in the year

ending in two or as soon as practicable thereafter, the commission shall

submit to the legislature that redistricting plan and implementing

legislation that garnered the highest number of votes in support of its

approval by the commission with a record of the votes taken. In the

event that more than one plan received the same number of votes for

approval, and such number was higher than that for any other plan, then

the commission shall submit all plans that obtained such number of

votes. The legislature shall consider and vote upon such implementing

legislation in accordance with the voting rules set forth in subdivision

(b) of section four of this article.

(h) (1) The independent redistricting commission shall appoint two

co-executive directors by a majority vote of the commission in

accordance with the following procedure:

(i) In the event that the speaker of the assembly and the temporary

president of the senate are members of two different political parties,

the co-executive directors shall be approved by a majority of the

commission that includes at least one appointee by the speaker of the

assembly and at least one appointee by the temporary president of the

senate.

(ii) In the event that the speaker of the assembly and the temporary

president of the senate are members of the same political party, the

co-executive directors shall be approved by a majority of the commission

that includes at least one appointee by each of the legislative leaders.

(2) One of the co-executive directors shall be enrolled in the

political party with the highest number of enrolled members in the state

and one shall be enrolled in the political party with the second highest

number of enrolled members in the state. The co-executive directors

shall appoint such staff as are necessary to perform the commission's

duties, except that the commission shall review a staffing plan prepared

and provided by the co-executive directors which shall contain a list of

the various positions and the duties, qualifications, and salaries

associated with each position.

(3) In the event that the commission is unable to appoint one or both

of the co-executive directors within forty-five days of the

establishment of a quorum of seven commissioners, the following

procedure shall be followed:

(i) In the event that the speaker of the assembly and the temporary

president of the senate are members of two different political parties,

within ten days the speaker's appointees on the commission shall appoint

one co-executive director, and the temporary president's appointees on

the commission shall appoint the other co-executive director. Also

within ten days the minority leader of the assembly shall select a

co-deputy executive director, and the minority leader of the senate

shall select the other co-deputy executive director.

(ii) In the event that the speaker of the assembly and the temporary

president of the senate are members of the same political party, within

ten days the speaker's and temporary president's appointees on the

commission shall together appoint one co-executive director, and the two

minority leaders' appointees on the commission shall together appoint

the other co-executive director.

(4) In the event of a vacancy in the offices of co-executive director

or co-deputy executive director, the position shall be filled within ten

days of its occurrence by the same appointing authority or authorities

that appointed his or her predecessor.

(i) The state budget shall include necessary appropriations for the

expenses of the independent redistricting commission, provide for

compensation and reimbursement of expenses for the members and staff of

the commission, assign to the commission any additional duties that the

legislature may deem necessary to the performance of the duties

stipulated in this article, and require other agencies and officials of

the state of New York and its political subdivisions to provide such

information and assistance as the commission may require to perform its

duties.