Section 19:46-7 - Membership of commissiona. The commission shall consist of 13 members. The members of the commission shall be appointed with due consideration to geographic, ethnic and racial diversity and in the manner provided herein.b. There shall first be appointed 12 as follows:(1) two members to be appointed by the President of the Senate;(2) two members to be appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly;(3) two members to be appointed by the minority leader of the Senate;(4) two members to be appointed by the minority leader of the General Assembly; and(5) four members, two to be appointed by the chairman of the State committee of the political party whose candidate for Governor received the largest numbers of votes at the most recent gubernatorial election and two to be appointed by the chairman of the State committee of the political party whose candidate for Governor received the next largest number of votes at that election. Appointments to the commission under this subsection shall be made as soon as practicable after the enactment of this act but not later than the seventh day after enactment and shall be certified by the appointing authorities to the Secretary of State as soon as practicable thereafter but no later than the fifth day after the appointments are made.
c. There shall then be appointed one member, to serve as an independent member, who shall not have held elected public or party office in this State at any time during the three year period immediately prior to appointment to the commission. The independent member shall be appointed by the previously appointed members of the commission as follows: the members appointed by the appointing officials of the political party whose candidate for Governor received the largest number of votes at the preceding gubernatorial election shall as a group select three nominees meeting the foregoing qualifications, and the members appointed by the appointing officials of the political party whose candidate for Governor received the next largest number of votes at that election shall do the same. If one person is nominated by both groups, then that person shall be the independent member, and if more than one person is nominated by both groups, the previous appointees shall by lot choose one of them to be the independent member. If no person is nominated by both groups, the members shall elect the independent member by ballot upon the vote of seven of the previously appointed members. Appointment to the commission of the independent member under this subsection shall be made as soon as practicable but no later than the seventh day after the appointment of the other members of the commission and the certification shall be made as soon as practicable thereafter but no later than the fifth day after the appointment is made. Once selected, the independent member shall serve as chairman of the commission. If the other members are unable to appoint an independent member within the time allowed therefor, the appointment of those other members shall be void and each of the appointing officials shall, as soon as practicable, appoint to be members of the commission persons other than those originally selected to be members and the selection process of the independent member shall proceed again as provided for by this section.
d. No person shall serve as a member of the commission who is a member of the Congress of the United States or a Congressional employee or has served as such during the one-year period prior to the appointment of the members of the commission.