§ 5-b. (a) On or before February first of each year ending with a zero\nand at any other time a court orders that congressional or state\nlegislative districts be amended, an independent redistricting\ncommission shall be established to determine the district lines for\ncongressional and state legislative offices. The independent\nredistricting commission shall be composed of ten members, appointed as\nfollows:\n (1) two members shall be appointed by the temporary president of the\nsenate;\n (2) two members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly;\n (3) two members shall be appointed by the minority leader of the\nsenate;\n (4) two members shall be appointed by the minority leader of the\nassembly;\n (5) two members shall be appointed by the eight members appointed\npursuant to paragraphs (1) through (4) of this subdivision by a vote of\nnot less than five members in favor of such appointment, and these two\nmembers shall not have been enrolled in the preceding five years in\neither of the two political parties that contain the largest or second\nlargest number of enrolled voters within the state;\n (6) one member shall be designated chair of the commission by a\nmajority of the members appointed pursuant to paragraphs (1) through (5)\nof this subdivision to convene and preside over each meeting of the\ncommission.\n (b) The members of the independent redistricting commission shall be\nregistered voters in this state. No member shall within the last three\nyears:\n (1) be or have been a member of the New York state legislature or\nUnited States Congress or a statewide elected official;\n (2) be or have been a state officer or employee or legislative\nemployee as defined in section seventy-three of the public officers law;\n (3) be or have been a registered lobbyist in New York state;\n (4) be or have been a political party chairman, as defined in\nparagraph (k) of subdivision one of section seventy-three of the public\nofficers law;\n (5) be the spouse of a statewide elected official or of any member of\nthe United States Congress, or of the state legislature.\n (c) To the extent practicable, the members of the independent\nredistricting commission shall reflect the diversity of the residents of\nthis state with regard to race, ethnicity, gender, language, and\ngeographic residence and to the extent practicable the appointing\nauthorities shall consult with organizations devoted to protecting the\nvoting rights of minority and other voters concerning potential\nappointees to the commission.\n (d) Vacancies in the membership of the commission shall be filled\nwithin thirty days in the manner provided for in the original\nappointments.\n (e) The legislature shall provide by law for the compensation of the\nmembers of the independent redistricting commission, including\ncompensation for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the\nperformance of their duties.\n (f) A minimum of five members of the independent redistricting\ncommission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business\nor the exercise of any power of such commission prior to the appointment\nof the two commission members appointed pursuant to paragraph (5) of\nsubdivision (a) of this section, and a minimum of seven members shall\nconstitute a quorum after such members have been appointed, and no\nexercise of any power of the independent redistricting commission shall\noccur without the affirmative vote of at least a majority of the\nmembers, provided that, in order to approve any redistricting plan and\nimplementing legislation, the following rules shall apply:\n (1) In the event that the speaker of the assembly and the temporary\npresident of the senate are members of the same political party,\napproval of a redistricting plan and implementing legislation by the\ncommission for submission to the legislature shall require the vote in\nsupport of its approval by at least seven members including at least one\nmember appointed
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