BY JEFFREY M. WICE
As 2021 ends, New York
State’s Independent State Redistricting
Commission (IRC)
has scheduled a Jan. 3 meeting
for a possible vote to send
the fi nal state election districts
map proposal and reports
to the legislature. The
fi nal deadline for the Commission
to adopt its initial
plans is January 15.
The map will affect fair
and equal political representation
for New Yorkers in the
next decade. The stakes are
high: the new congressional
and state legislative district
boundaries will be in place
for elections next year and
through the decade.
Local jurisdictions will be
undertaking a similar line
drawing for the 2023 elections.
And work to avert New
York losing another congressional
district in the 2030
Census will need to start in
earnest.
This year’s congressional
and state legislative redistricting
process is governed
by a New York State constitutional
amendment enacted
in 2014. To make redistricting
somewhat more independent
of the state legislature,
the amendment created the
IRC and set out objective criteria.
Those criteria include
equality of population, fair
minority districts, compact
and contiguous districts, and
“communities of interest”
considerations.
Since the summer, the
IRC, a ten-member board appointed
mostly by state legislative
leaders, has held hearings
throughout the state
seeking public input on how
to draw new congressional
and state lines.
If the IRC agrees on its
plans, they go to the State
Legislature. If the State Legislature
votes to accept them
and the Governor approves,
NYC’s #1 Source for Political & Election News
the lines are set. If, however,
the Legislature rejects the
IRC maps, the Commission
has until late February to
give the Legislature a new
set of plans. The State Legislature
Sight
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also could take up its
own redistricting if the IRC
sends it no plans or if the Legislature
rejects both fi rst and
second-round IRC maps.
Timing is important.
Candidate petitioning for
the Spring 2022 primary is
expected to get underway
around March 1. New district
lines need to be fi nalized before
petitioning gets underway.
Meanwhile, as new congressional
and state legislative
lines are set in place,
New York City and most counties,
cities, and towns with local
legislatures will also have
to redraw their districts for
the 2023 elections.
In New York City, Mayorelect
Eric Adams, Speakerdesignate
Adrienne Adams,
and Minority Leader-designate
Joe Borelli will appoint
a 15-member City Council redistricting
commission that
is tasked with redrawing
Council district lines by December
2022.
Even though New York
State gained more in population
between 2010 and 2020
(adding more than 800,000
persons) its gains were edged
out by other states’ census
counts. As a result, New York
lost one congressional district.
New population estimates
from the Census Bureau
reveal a potentially
more negative recent trend:
between July 2020 and July
2021 New York State’s population
dropped by 1.5% (or by
more than 350,000 persons).
New York has a major challenge
ahead to make sure every
resident is counted in the
2030 Census. Planning for a
full and fair count must start
now.
Jeffrey M. Wice is an Adjunct
Professor/Senior Fellow
at New York Law School and
an expert on redistricting.
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Analysis: Redistricting
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