Opinion ID: 2154803
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Other State Constitutional Principles

Text: In addition to requiring that senate districts be as equal as may be in population, the New Hampshire Constitution mandates that: (1) senate districts be comprised of contiguous towns, city wards and unincorporated places; (2) no town, city ward or unincorporated place may be divided unless the town, city ward or unincorporated place requests division by referendum; and (3) each senate district must elect only one senator. N.H. CONST., pt. II, arts. 26, 26-a. These additional requirements, however, are secondary to the overriding constitutional principle of one person/one vote. See In re Legislative Districting, 299 Md. 658, 475 A.2d 428, 439 (1984); In re Senate Bill 177, 132 Vt. 282, 318 A.2d 157, 160 (1974); Rice v. English, 835 So.2d 157, 172 (Ala. 2002). Contiguity may be a valid consideration is primarily a matter of legislative in districting a state legislative body. See Reynolds, 377 U.S. at 578-79, 84 S.Ct. 1362. A State may legitimately desire to maintain the integrity of various political subdivisions, insofar as possible, and provide for compact districts of contiguous territory in designing a legislative apportionment scheme. Id. at 578, 84 S.Ct. 1362. Courts generally agree that contiguous territory is territory that touches, adjoins or is connected, as distinguished from territory that is separated by other territory. See In re Legislative Districting, 475 A.2d at 436; Hickel, 846 P.2d at 45; In re Sherill, 188 N.Y. 185, 81 N.E. 124, 131 (1907). Other States considering similar constitutional provisions have held that the contiguity requirement is intended to prevent partisan gerrymandering. See In re Legislative Districting, 475 A.2d at 436; see also Reynolds, 377 U.S. at 578-79, 84 S.Ct. 1362. Political gerrymandering is [t]he practice of dividing a geographical area into electoral districts, often of highly irregular shape, to give one political party an unfair advantage by diluting the opposition's voting strength. Black's Law Dictionary 696 (7th ed. 1999); see also Hickel v. Southeast Conference, 846 P.2d 38, 45 (Alaska 1992). The State Constitution also requires that each of the twenty-four senate districts be single-member districts, which means that each district elects only one senator.