House Concurrent Resolution 34

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION PROPOSING AN AMENDMENT TO SECTION 254, MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, TO PROVIDE THAT AN AGENCY DESIGNATED BY THE LEGISLATURE SHALL CREATE A PLAN TO APPORTION THE STATE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE AND OF THE UNITED STATES INTO CONSECUTIVELY NUMBERED SENATORIAL AND REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICTS OF CONTIGUOUS TERRITORY; TO REVISE THE PROCEDURE FOR APPROVAL OF THE APPORTIONMENT PLAN; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That the following amendment to the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 is proposed to the qualified electors of the state:

Amend Section 254, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, to read as follows:

"Section 254. The Legislature shall at its regular session in the second year following the 1980 decennial census and every ten (10) years thereafter, and may, at any other time, by joint resolution, by majority vote of all members of each house, approve a plan that is created by an agency, which is designated by the Legislature as provided by law. The plan shall apportion the state in accordance with the Constitution of the state and of the United States into consecutively numbered senatorial and representative districts of contiguous territory. The Senate shall consist of not more than fifty-two (52) senators, and the House of Representatives shall consist of not more than one hundred twenty-two (122) representatives, the number of members of each house to be determined by the Legislature. Should the Legislature adjourn, without approving an apportionment plan, the Governor by proclamation shall reconvene the Legislature within thirty (30) days in a special apportionment session which shall not exceed thirty (30) consecutive days, during which no other business shall be transacted, and it shall be the mandatory duty of the Legislature to adopt a joint resolution of apportionment. Should a special apportionment session not adopt a joint resolution of apportionment as required hereby, a five-member commission consisting of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as chairman, the Attorney General, the Secretary of State, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall immediately convene and within one hundred eighty (180) days of the adjournment of such special apportionment session, apportion the Legislature, which apportionment shall be final upon filing with the Office of the Secretary of State. Each apportionment shall be effective for the next regularly scheduled elections of members of the Legislature."

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this proposed amendment shall be submitted by the Secretary of State to the qualified electors at an election to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November 2011, as provided by Section 273 of the Constitution and by general law.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the explanation of this proposed amendment for the ballot shall read as follows: "This proposed constitutional amendment provides that an agency designated by the Legislature shall create an plan to apportion the state in accordance with the Constitution of the state and of the United States into consecutively numbered senatorial and representative districts of contiguous territory and revises the manner in which the plan is approved."

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Attorney General of the State of Mississippi shall submit this resolution, immediately upon adoption by the Legislature, to the Attorney General of the United States or to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, in accordance with the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended and extended.