Opinion ID: 1239200
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: designation of seats within multi-member districts

Text: The 1971 plan provided that each seat within the multi-member districts of Anchorage and Fairbanks should be designated alphabetically, and that each candidate for office within that district should indicate at the time of filing the particular lettered seat for which he seeks election. The plaintiffs challenged the authority of the Governor to designate seats within multi-member districts. The Governor's general power to reapportion includes the right to utilize the tool of designated seats. The reasoning set forth in Hovet v. Myers, [48] gives support to this position. An identical problem arose in the case of Moss v. Burkhart, [49] wherein the court in redistricting the Oklahoma legislature authorized designated seats. If a court has such power under its general authority to reapportion, a Governor authorized specifically by a state constitution to reapportion should be held to have similar power.