(a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the Senate Redistricting Act of 2021.
(b) As used in this section:
(1) “County” means the territory comprising a county of this state as such county existed on January 1, 2020, notwithstanding any boundary changes thereof made subsequent thereto;
(2) “Tract”, “block group”, and “block” mean those geographic areas as those terms are respectively defined by the Bureau of the Census of the United States Department of Commerce for the taking of the 2020 census of population and described on census maps and data prepared by the Bureau of the Census. Such maps and data are, at the time of this enactment, maintained by the Bureau of the Census and have been provided to the West Virginia Legislature;
(3) “Incumbent senator” means:
(A) For purposes of the general election to be held in the year 2022,
(i) A senator elected at the general election held in the year 2020; or
(ii) A senator appointed to complete the term of office of a senator who was elected at the general election held in 2020.
(B) For purposes of the general election to be held in the year 2024 or any general election thereafter,
(i) A senator elected at the immediately preceding general election; or
(ii) A senator appointed to complete the term of office of a senator who was elected at the immediately preceding general election.
(c) The Legislature recognizes that in dividing the state into senatorial districts, the Legislature is bound not only by the United States Constitution but also by the West Virginia Constitution; that in any instance where the West Virginia Constitution conflicts with the United States Constitution, the United States Constitution must govern and control, as provided by article VI of the United States Constitution and as recognized in section one, article I of the West Virginia Constitution; that the United States Constitution, as interpreted by the United States Supreme Court and other federal courts, requires state legislatures to be apportioned so as to achieve equality of population as nearly as is practicable, population disparities being permissible where justified by rational state policies, and population disparities being presumptively constitutional where the maximum population deviation between the largest and the smallest district is less than 10%, as recognized by the United States Supreme Court in Brown v. Thompson, 462 U.S. 835 (1983) and Evenwel v. Abbott, 136 S.Ct. 1120 (2016); and that the West Virginia Constitution requires two senators to be elected from each senatorial district for terms of four years each, one such senator being elected every two years, with one half of the senators being elected biennially, and requires senatorial districts to be compact, formed of contiguous territory and bounded by county lines. The Legislature finds and declares that it is not possible to divide the state into senatorial districts so as to achieve equality of population as near as is practicable as required by the United States Supreme Court and other federal courts and at the same time adhere to all of these provisions of the West Virginia Constitution; but that, in an effort to adhere as closely as possible to all of these provisions of the West Virginia Constitution, the Legislature, in dividing the state into senatorial districts, as described and constituted in subsection (d) of this section, has:
(1) Adhered to the equality of population requirement as delineated in the cases referenced in subsection (c) of this section, while at the same time recognizing that from the formation of this state in the year 1863, each Constitution of West Virginia and the statutes enacted by the Legislature have recognized county lines and many functions, policies, and programs of government have been implemented along county lines;
(2) Made the senatorial districts compact, consistent with the equality of population requirement, and with the requirement of section four, article VI of the West Virginia Constitution that senatorial districts be bounded by county lines;
(3) Formed the senatorial districts, without exception, of “contiguous territory” as that term has been construed and applied by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals;
(4) Deviated from the requirement of section four, article VI of the West Virginia Constitution that senatorial districts be bounded by county lines by crossing county lines only when necessary to ensure that all senatorial districts were formed of contiguous territory or when adherence to county lines produced unacceptable population inequalities and only to the extent necessary in order to maintain contiguity of territory and to achieve acceptable equality of population;
(5) Also taken into account in crossing county lines, to the extent feasible, the preservation of the cores of districts described and constituted by chapter six, Acts of the Legislature, First Extraordinary Session 2011; and
(6) Also taken into account in crossing county lines, to the extent feasible, the community of interests of the people involved.
(d) The Senate shall be composed of thirty-four senators, one senator to be elected at the general election to be held in the year 2022, and biennially thereafter for a four-year term from each of the senatorial districts hereinafter in this subsection described and constituted as follows:
(1) The first senatorial district consists of the following counties, tracts, block groups, and blocks, together with their respective populations from the 2020 federal decennial census:
(2) The second senatorial district consists of the following counties, tracts, block groups, and blocks, together with their respective populations from the 2020 federal decennial census:
(3) The third senatorial district consists of the following counties, tracts, block groups, and blocks, together with their respective populations from the 2020 federal decennial census:
(4) The fourth senatorial district consists of the following counties, tracts, block groups, and blocks, together with their respective populations from the 2020 federal decennial census:
(5) The fifth senatorial district consists of the following counties, tracts, block groups, and blocks, together with their respective populations from the 2020 federal decennial census:
(6) The sixth senatorial district consists of the following counties, tracts, block groups, and blocks, together with their respective populations from the 2020 federal decennial census:
(7) The seventh senatorial district consists of the following counties, tracts, block groups, and blocks, together with their respective populations from the 2020 federal decennial census:
(8) The eighth senatorial district consists of the following counties, tracts, block groups, and blocks, together with their respective populations from the 2020 federal decennial census:
(9) The ninth senatorial district consists of the following counties, tracts, block groups, and blocks, together with their respective populations from the 2020 federal decennial census:
(10) The tenth senatorial district consists of the following counties, tracts, block groups, and blocks, together with their respective populations from the 2020 federal decennial census:
(11) The eleventh senatorial district consists of the following counties, tracts, block groups, and blocks, together with their respective populations from the 2020 federal decennial census:
(12) The twelfth senatorial district consists of the following counties, tracts, block groups, and blocks, together with their respective populations from the 2020 federal decennial census:
(13) The thirteenth senatorial district consists of the following counties, tracts, block groups, and blocks, together with their respective populations from the 2020 federal decennial census:
(14) The fourteenth senatorial district consists of the following counties, tracts, block groups, and blocks, together with their respective populations from the 2020 federal decennial census:
(15) The fifteenth senatorial district consists of the following counties, tracts, block groups, and blocks, together with their respective populations from the 2020 federal decennial census:
(16) The sixteenth senatorial district consists of the following counties, tracts, block groups, and blocks, together with their respective populations from the 2020 federal decennial census:
(17) The seventeenth senatorial district consists of the following counties, tracts, block groups, and blocks, together with their respective populations from the 2020 federal decennial census:
(e) The West Virginia Constitution further provides, in section four, article VI thereof, that where a senatorial district is composed of more than one county, both senators for such district shall not be chosen from the same county, a residency dispersal provision which is clear with respect to senatorial districts which follow county lines, as required by such Constitution, but which is not clear in application with respect to senatorial districts which cross county lines. However, in an effort to adhere as closely as possible to the West Virginia Constitution in this regard, the following additional provisions, in furtherance of the rationale of such residency dispersal provision and to give meaning and effect thereto, are hereby established:
(1) With respect to a senatorial district which is composed of one or more whole counties and one or more parts of another county or counties, no more than one senator shall be chosen from the same county or from the same part or parts of a county to represent such senatorial district; and
(2) With respect to a senatorial district which does not contain any whole county but only parts of two or more counties, no more than one senator shall be chosen from the same part or parts of a county to represent such senatorial district.
(f) Candidates for the Senate shall be nominated as provided in §3-5-4 of this code, except that such candidates shall be nominated in accordance with the residency dispersal provisions specified in section four, article VI of the West Virginia Constitution and the additional residency dispersal provisions specified in subsection (e) of this section. Candidates for the Senate shall also be elected in accordance with the residency dispersal provisions specified in said section and the additional residency dispersal provisions specified in subsection (e) of this section. In furtherance of the foregoing provisions of this subsection, no person may file a certificate of candidacy for election from a multi-county senatorial district described and constituted in subsection (d) of this section if he or she resides in the same county as an incumbent senator whose residence is located within that district, whether or not the numerical designation of that district is the same as the numerical designation of the district described and constituted by chapter six, Acts of the Legislature, First Extraordinary Session 2011 wherein the incumbent senator resides. Any vacancy in a nomination shall be filled, any appointment to fill a vacancy in the Senate shall be made, and any candidates in an election to fill a vacancy in the Senate shall be chosen so as to be consistent with the residency dispersal provisions specified in section four, article VI of the West Virginia Constitution and the additional residency dispersal provisions specified in subsection (e) of this section.
(g) Regardless of the changes in senatorial district boundaries made by the provisions of subsection (d) of this section, each senator elected at the general election held in the year 2018 and at the general election held in the year 2020 shall continue to hold his or her seat as a member of the Senate for the term, and as a representative of the senatorial district, for which he or she was elected. Any appointment made or election held to fill a vacancy in the Senate shall be for the remainder of the term and as a representative of the senatorial district, for which the vacating senator was elected or appointed, and any such election shall be held in the district as the same was described and constituted at the time the vacating senator was elected or appointed.
(h) The Secretary of State may promulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of this section, including emergency rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to the provisions of §29A-3-5 of this code.