Article XII.
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Senate districts
The state shall be divided into eight districts, to be called senate districts, each of which shall choose four senators
The first district, shall consist of the counties of Suffolk, Queens, Kings, Richmond, and New-York.
The second district, shall consist of the countries of Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland, Orange, Ulster and Sullivan
The third district, shall consist of the counties of Greene, Columbia, Albany, Rensselaer, Schoharie, and Schenectady.
The fourth district, shall consist of the counties of Saratoga, Montgomery, Hamilton, Washington, Warren, Clinton, Essex, Franklin, and St. Lawrence
The fifth district, shall consist of the counties of Herkimer, Oneida, Madison, Oswego, Lewis, and Jefferson.
The sixth district, shall consist of the counties of Delaware, Otsego, Chenango, Broome, Cortland, Tompkins, and Tioga
The seventh district, shall consist of the counties of Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Ontario
The eighth district, shall consist of the counties of Steuben, Livingston, Monroe, Genesee, Niagara, Erie, Allegany, Cattaraugus, and Chautauqua.
And as soon as the senate shall meet, after the first election to be held in pursuance of this constitution, they shall cause the senators to be divided by lot, into four classes, of eight in each, so that every district shall have one senator of each class; the classes to be numbered, one, two, three, and four. And the seats of the first class, shall be vacated at the end of the first year; of the second class, at the end of the second year; of the third class, at the end of the third year; of the fourth class, at the end of the fourth year; in order that one senator be annually elected in each senate district.
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Future appointments of legislature
That from the first Monday in July next, and on the return of every census thereafter, the number of the assembly shall be increased at the rate of two members for every year, until the whole number shall amount to one hundred and fifty; and that upon the return of every such census, the legislature shall apportion the senators and members of the assembly amongst the great districts and counties of this state, as nearly as may be, according to the number of their respective electors: Provided, That the legislature shall not be prohibited by any thing herein contained, from allowing one member of assembly to each county, heretofore erected within this state.
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That the election of senators shall be after this manner; that so much of this state as is now parcelled into counties, be divided into four great districts; the Southern district to comprehend the city and county of New-York, Suffolk, Westchester, King’s, Queen’s, and Richmond Counties; the Middle district to comprehend the counties of Dutchess, Ulster, and Orange; the Western district the city and county of Albany, and Tryon county; and the Eastern district, the counties of Charlotte, Cumberland and Gloucester. That the senators shall be elected by the freeholders of the said districts, qualified as aforesaid, in the proportions following, to wit; In the Southern district, nine; in the Middle district, six; in the Western district, six; and in the Eastern district, three. AND IT BE ORDAINED, That a census shall be taken as soon as may be, after the expiration of seven years from the termination of the present war, under the direction of the legislature: And if on such census it shall appear, that the number of senators is not justly proportioned to the several districts, that the legislature adjust the proportion as near as may be, to the number of freeholders qualified as aforesaid, in each district. That when the number of electors within any of the said districts, shall have increased one twenty-fourth part of the whole number of electors, which by the said census shall be found to be in this state, an additional senator shall be chosen by the electors of such district. That a majority of the number of senators to be chosen aforesaid, shall be necessary to constitute a senate, sufficient to proceed upon business, and that the senate shall, in like manner with the assembly, be the judges of its own members. AND BE IT ORDAINED, That it shall be in the power of the future legislatures of this state, for the convenience and advantage of the good people thereof, to divide the same into such further and other counties and districts, as shall to them appear necessary.
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