Last week, the Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) released the first draft of the new New York state Assembly district maps for the 2024 elections.
According to Blair Horner, executive director of the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG), the current Assembly maps left a lot to be desired regarding their size range.
“One of the things that we look at is, are the districts containing similar numbers of people?” he said. “Under the current maps for example, there is a yawning gap between the smallest population district and the biggest.”
Like congressional and state Senate districts, Assembly districts are required to have an equal number of people. New York’s Assembly districts should contain around 134,500 individuals per district. However, there are deviations among districts of between -4.5% to +3.1%.
Horner told Capital Tonight that under the newly proposed maps, there are fewer districts with wider ranges when it comes to population deviation.
“So that’s a good thing if you believe in the principle of one person, one vote,” Horner said.
Public hearings on the proposed Assembly maps will be held multiple times across the state from Jan. 9 to March 1. The deadline for the commission to present a final map to the state Legislature is April 28, 2023.