ALBANY- Several political and good government groups are reacting to this week’s Court of Appeals decision to send the duty of creating new districts back to the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC). Last year the IRC failed to produce new districts which resulted in the state legislative majority drawing districts that were ultimately deemed unlawful. The result was the court appointing a “special master” to draw the district lines for the 2022 election. This week’s court decision said those lines would not stand for 2024, and that the IRC would get another shot.
Some groups are pleased about the court’s decision, others are not.
The Democratic Commissioners on the IRC released a joint statement praising the decision, stating in part that they welcome the Court of Appeals’ decision holding that, “the people of New York are entitled to the IRC process set out in the Constitution, for which they voted.” Deputy Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins, a Democrat, serves as the Chairman of the commission.
Former four-term U.S. Congressman, 2022 New York Gubernatorial candidate, and Chairman of the Leadership America Needs PAC Lee Zeldin believes the court’s decision was based in politics, not the law.
“New Yorkers already voted twice in statewide ballots since the 2010 census to ensure that New York’s constitution would end hyper partisan gerrymandering by the legislature,” said Zeldin. “The Court of Appeals eagerly disgraced itself today in a way that will be taught in future law school classes about how, in some cases, merit, the constitution, laws, facts, and the will of the people just don’t matter.”
The League of Women Voters took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to urge the IRC to take a different course than it did last year when creating new districts.
“It is critical that the IRC reach consensus on a new map that complies with the constitutional requirements to avoid partisan…
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