Of the ten members to be elected by the General Assembly, one member must be elected from each of the congressional districts and three members must be elected by the General Assembly from the State at large. Each representative of a congressional district must be a resident of the congressional district represented. The regular term of office of the elective members of the board of trustees is six years. In electing members of the board, the General Assembly shall elect members based on merit regardless of race, color, creed, or gender and shall strive to assure that the membership of the board is representative of all citizens of the State of South Carolina. The elective members of the board of trustees shall continue to serve until the thirtieth day of June of the year in which their terms are scheduled to expire. Those persons elected by the General Assembly shall have their seats designated as the seat number corresponding to the congressional district from which they are elected with the at-large members designated as Seat Eight, Seat Nine, and Seat Ten with the present at-large member of the board deemed to be serving in Seat Eight. The General Assembly shall hold elections to fill vacancies as they occur on the board by the expiration of terms of office, as follows: Seat One in 2006, Seat Two in 2008, Seat Three in 2004, Seat Four in 2004, Seat Five in 2006, Seat Six in 2008, Seat Seven in 2018, Seat Eight in 2005, Seat Nine in 2008, and Seat Ten in 2009. In 2008, the person elected by the General Assembly to fill Seat Nine shall serve a six-year term and in 2009, the person elected by the General Assembly to fill Seat Ten shall serve a six-year term. At the completion of those terms of office, all subsequent members of the board elected by the General Assembly to fill Seats Nine and Ten shall be elected for six-year terms. Elections to fill vacancies which are caused by the death, resignation, or removal of an elective trustee may be held earlier than the first day of April of the year in which the unexpired term terminates, but the term of the person elected to fill the vacancy expires on the last day of June of the year in which the term of the former member would have expired. When there is a vacancy otherwise occurring on the board of trustees among the elected members, the Governor may fill it by appointment until the next session of the General Assembly. The State Superintendent of Education or the superintendent’s designee shall serve in Seat Eleven, ex officio. Seat Fourteen shall be a member appointed by the Governor. The Governor or the Governor’s designee shall serve in Seat Fifteen, ex officio. In 2006, the person elected by the Winthrop University Alumni Association or its successors to fill Seat Twelve shall serve a six-year term and the person elected by the Winthrop University Alumni Association or its successors to fill Seat Thirteen shall serve a four-year term. At the completion of those terms of office, all subsequent members of the board elected by the Winthrop University Alumni Association or its successors to fill Seats Twelve and Thirteen shall be elected for six-year terms. The names of those so elected must be certified to the Secretary of State by the president and secretary of the association and they shall take office immediately after the certification. The term of the at-large trustee appointed by the Governor to Seat Fourteen is effective upon certification to the Secretary of State and is coterminous with the term of office of the Governor. Any vacancy in the office of the member appointed by the Governor must be filled by appointment of the Governor for the unexpired term in the same manner of original appointment.