MONTGOMERY COUNTY                                  2107

Section 103. Councilmanic Districts

Montgomery County shall be divided into five Councilmanic districts
for the purpose of nominating and electing five members of the Council.
Each district shall be compact in form and be composed of adjoining
territory. Populations of the Councilmanic districts shall be substantially
equal.

Section 104. Redistricting Procedure

The boundaries of Councilmanic districts shall be reestablished in
1970 for the elections of that year, in 1972 and every tenth year there-
after. Whenever district boundaries are to be reestablished the Council
shall appoint, not later than February 1 of the year prior to the year in
which redistricting is to be effective, a commission on redistricting, com-
posed of three members from each political party chosen from a list of five
names submitted by the Central Committee of each political party which
polled at least fifteen percent of the total vote cast for all candidates for the
Council in the last preceding regular election. The Council shall appoint
one additional member of the Commission. The Commission shall, at its
first meeting, select one of its members to serve as chairman. No person
shall be eligible for appointment to the Commission if he holds any elected
office.

By October 1 of the year prior to the year in which redistricting is
to be effective, the Commission shall prepare a plan of Councilmanic dis-
tricts and shall present that plan, together with a report explaining it, to
the Council. Within thirty days after receiving the plan of the Commis-
sion, the Council shall hold a public hearing on the plan. If within seventy
days following presentation of the Commission's plan no other law re-
establishing the boundaries of the Councilmanic districts has been en-
acted, then the plan, as submitted, shall become law.

Section 105. Term of Office

Members of the Council shall hold office for a term beginning at
noon on the first Monday of December next following the regular election
for the Council and ending at noon on the first Monday of December in the
fourth year thereafter.

Section 106. Vacancies

A vacancy shall occur when any member of the Council shall, prior
to the expiration of his term, die, resign his office, or become disqualified
for membership on the Council. When a vacancy has occurred, a majority
of the remaining members of the Council shall appoint a person to fill the
vacancy within thirty days. An appointee to fill a vacancy, when succeed-
ing a party member, shall be a member of the same political party as the
person last elected to such office. If the Council has not acted within
thirty days, the County Executive shall appoint a person to fill the vacancy
within ten days thereafter. If a person having held the vacant position
was a member of a political party at the time of his election, the person
appointed by the County Executive shall be the nominee of the Central
Committee of that party. An appointee shall serve for the unexpired term