It was a victory for Democrats Tuesday as New York’s top court, the Court of Appeals, ruled to have the Independent Redistricting Commission redraw the state’s congressional district maps.
“The court basically said today that redistricting is the responsibility of the state Legislature, not the courts,” New York Law School Adjunct Professor of Law and Senior Fellow at the New York Census and Redistricting Institute Jeff Wice told Capital Tonight. “And the court kicked the whole redistricting process to draw New York’s congressional maps, first back to a commission, and then finally to the Legislature, which will have final determination for new maps that will be used in the 2024 through 2030 congressional elections.”
Democrats had argued that maps drawn two years ago by a special master in Pittsburgh had to be replaced for several reasons: The maps weren’t sensitive to some minority communities, and that constitutionally, the maps needed to be drawn by the Independent Redistricting Commission.
Republicans, who gained several seats in the last round of congressional elections in New York, argued that the Democrats, who control the state Legislature, have been trying to game the system by getting two bites at the redistricting apple.
There is a good chance that once the Republicans look at the newly drawn set of maps (due out by Feb. 28), that they will again sue if they believe the maps have been gerrymandered.
“If [Democrats] do that, we’re right back in court, going up through the court system challenging [the maps] under the provisions of the [New York state] Constitution,” Ed Cox, chair of the New York state Republican Committee, told Capital Tonight.
The case has been closely watched nationally because of the narrow margins in the House of Representatives.
Timing will be tight. Ballot petitioning begins on March 1.
There is some relief for the IRC: According to Jeff Wice, the commission does not need to hold the 12 public hearings across the state, which they were obligated to do the first time around.