New York’s supreme court on Wednesday rejected the state’s new congressional district maps, which were seen as favoring Democrats.
The state Court of Appeals agreed in a ruling with a group of Republican voters who sued alleging that the district’s boundaries had been unconstitutionally rigged and that the Legislature had failed to follow proper procedure in approving the maps.
The court said it “will likely be necessary” to move the state’s Congressional and Senate primaries from June to August.
A lower-level court also ruled the maps unconstitutional and gave the Legislature until April 30 to submit new maps or leave the task to a court-appointed expert.
The legal fight over New York’s redistricting process could be a factor in the battle between Democrats and Republicans for control of the US House of Representatives.
New York will lose a congressional seat in 2022. The new maps of New York would give Democrats a large majority of registered voters in 22 of the state’s 26 congressional districts. Right now, Republicans currently hold eight of the state’s 27 seats.
Democrats hoped a pro-party redistricting map in New York could help offset expected losses in other states where Republicans control state government.
Maps of political districts across the country have been redrawn in recent months as a result of population changes recorded in the 2020 census.
Under a process approved by voters in 2014, New York’s new district maps were supposed to have been drawn by an independent commission. But that body, made up of equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans, could not agree on a set of maps. The Democratic-controlled Legislature then stepped in and created their own maps, quickly signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Republicans then sued and had the maps thrown out for violating a provision in the state constitution that prohibited redistricting for partisan gain. Similar legal battles have played out in several other states.
The legal battle has moved quickly through the courts, but not quickly enough to quell uncertainty over the primary, now scheduled for June 28.
In the meantime, candidates have had to start campaigning in the new districts, though they aren’t sure if those districts will still exist when voting begins.
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