The

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

Apportionment Commission is a constitutionally-created ten-member commission responsible for reapportioning the forty

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

of the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...

. The commission is convened after each decennial U.S. Census, and the districts are to be in use for the legislative elections in the following ten years. The commission's members are appointed by the two most successful political parties in the previous gubernatorial election. Each party appoints five members. If the commission cannot agree to an districting plan in a timely manner, the Chief Justice of the

Supreme Court of New Jersey The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases ...

is to appoint an eleventh member as a tie-breaking vote.

New Jersey Constitution of 1947 The Constitution of the State of New Jersey is the basic governing document of the State of New Jersey. In addition to three British Royal Charters issued for East Jersey, West Jersey and united New Jersey while they were still colonies, the sta ...

. Article IV, Section III The Apportionment Commission is not to be confused with the

New Jersey Redistricting Commission The New Jersey Redistricting Commission is a constitutional body of the government of New Jersey tasked with redrawing the state's Congressional election districts after each decade's census. Like Arizona, Idaho, Hawaii, Montana, and Washington; t ...

which defines districts for the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

. The ten-member commission has a deadline of either February 1 in the year following the Census or one month from the release of the census data for New Jersey, whichever is later, to produce the new district map. If the ten-member commission is unable to produce a new legislative map by that deadline, the Chief Justice is to appoint an eleventh member. After the appointment of the 11th member, the eleven-member commission has one month to produce the new legislative map.

2021 Commission

A reapportionment will take place in 2020. Legislation to propose a constitutional amendment to change the reapportionment commission were introduced in 2018. It failed. A compromise was struck between the Democrat and Republican members. With the final vote being 8 to 2 in favor and with court-appointed tiebreaker Philip Carchman supporting. The 2023 to 2031 apportionment scheme has a total deviation of 6.35% and "over-splits" the counties 24 times. That is 6 fewer times then under the 2011 Apportionment and the first time the number of county over-splits has been reduced.

2011 Commission

New Jersey Legislative Districts Map (2011)

The 2011 Commission consists of five Democrats and five Republicans. The five Republican members are Assemblyman and former State Republican Chairman

Jay Webber James K. "Jay" Webber (born February 29, 1972) is an American Republican politician, who has served in the New Jersey General Assembly since January 8, 2008, where he represents the 26th legislative district. Webber has served in the Assembly ...

(serving as Co-Chair), former Assembly candidate Irene Kim Asbury (serving as Vice Co-Chair), State Senator

Kevin J. O'Toole Kevin J. O'Toole (born October 5, 1964) is an American Republican Party politician, who served in the New Jersey Senate. O'Toole represented the 40th legislative district, which included parts of Bergen, Essex, Morris, and Passaic counties fro ...

, Ocean County Republican Chair

George Gilmore George Frederick Gilmore (5 May 1898 – 1985) was a Protestant Irish republican and communist who became an Irish Republican Army leader during the 1920s and 1930s. During his period of influence, Gilmore attempted to shift the IRA to the polit ...

and Republican national committeeman

Bill Palatucci William J. Palatucci (born 1958) is an American attorney and Republican National Committeeman. Palatucci was the White House Transition Coordinator and General Counsel for the 2016 presidential transition of Donald Trump until terminated on Novem ...

. The five Democratic members are Assemblyman and State Democratic Chairman John Wisniewski (serving as Co-Chair), former Assemblywoman

Nilsa Cruz-Perez Nilsa Cruz-Perez (born January 21, 1961) is an American Democratic Party politician who was sworn into office to represent the 5th Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate on December 15, 2014, to fill the vacant seat of Donald Norcross. Sh ...

(serving as Vice Co-Chair), Assembly Majority Leader

Joseph Cryan Joseph P. Cryan (born September 1, 1961 in East Orange, New Jersey) is an American Democratic Party politician who has served in the New Jersey Senate since 2018, representing the 20th Legislative District. He previously served in the New Je ...

, Assembly Speaker

Sheila Oliver Sheila Y. Oliver (born July 14, 1952) is an American politician serving as the second lieutenant governor of New Jersey since 2018. She previously served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2004 to 2018, where she represented the 34th legis ...

and State Senator

Paul Sarlo Paul Anthony Sarlo (born August 31, 1968) is an American construction industry executive and Democratic Party politician, who has served in the New Jersey State Senate since 2003, where he represents the 36th Legislative District. Sarlo is a fo ...

. On February 3, 2011 the Census data for New Jersey were released. Accordingly, the ten-member commission had until March 5, 2011 to produce the district map. The commission at the deadline was at an impasse. Alan Rosenthal, a professor of public policy at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

, was named the 11th member of the committee. He sat on two commissions for the redistricting of

New Jersey's congressional districts There currently are 12 United States congressional districts in New Jersey based on results from the 2010 Census. There were once as many as 15. The was lost after the 1980 Census, the was lost after the 1990 Census, and the was lost after ...

for the House of Representatives in 1992 and 2001. Rosenthal was appointed by Chief Justice

Stuart Rabner Stuart Jeff Rabner (born June 30, 1960) is the chief justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. He served as New Jersey Attorney General, Chief Counsel to Governor Jon Corzine, and as a federal prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Dist ...

. On April 3, 2011, the day of the deadline, the commission voted 6 to 5 in favor of the Democrats' map (the five Democrats and Rosenthal voted for it, the five Republicans voted against). The result is the New Jersey Legislative Districts, 2011 apportionment. A court case challenging the new districts map was dismissed in August 2011 by the

New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases challenging the ...

that found that population discrepancies between northern and southern counties in the state were "nowhere near that needed to support a cognizable legal claim for voter dilution" and the court made it "clear that splitting counties is no longer a basis to invalidate a map." An appeals challenge was rejected in September 2012.

References

{{reflist

External links

Apportionment Commission website
Government of New Jersey Politics of New Jersey Redistricting commissions

2021 Commission

2011 Commission

See also

References

External links