The New Jersey Apportionment Commission is a constitutionally-created ten-member commission responsible for reapportioning the forty districts of the New Jersey Legislature. 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 is to appoint an eleventh member as a tie-breaking vote.[1]
The Apportionment Commission is not to be confused with the New Jersey Redistricting Commission which defines districts for the U.S. House of Representatives.
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.[1]