The Assembly Governmental Operations Committee held hearings on redistricting yesterday and Monday in Utica and Buffalo, with a hearing in NYC scheduled for October 17. At issue are three bills (A.624, A.2056, and A6287-a) that seek to alter New York’s redistricting process, which currently allows for a bipartisan gerrymander, giving incumbents the power to draw their own preferred districts and effectively eliminating serious electoral challenges.
Even though the lines won’t be drawn until after the release of the 2010 census data, it’s not too early to start raising the profile of the broken redistricting process in New York. It will be an uphill battle, and legislators, comfortable in their incumbent protection districts, will need all the pressure we can put on them to actually make a change in this entrenched system. Kudos to NYPIRG, Common Cause, and the New York League of Women Voters for pushing reform at the Assembly hearings, and we hope to see the Senate convene similar discussions.
Categories: General, Redistricting
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