NYC Council candidates hit the streets even as lawsuit to change district lines looms
New Yorkers shouldn’t be surprised to encounter clipboard-toting City Council candidates or campaign volunteers starting Tuesday — despite an ongoing lawsuit that sought to halt the start of the petitioning process for the upcoming elections.
Late Monday, a judge in Manhattan state Supreme Court refused a request filed by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund to delay the start of the petitioning process — the first step to securing a spot on the ballot.
The group filed a lawsuit against the New York City Districting Commission last Friday, arguing that the newly drawn Council district lines do not allow for “fair and effective representation” of the city’s racial and language minority groups.
Specifically, the group wants the court to order the commission to create a new “opportunity district” for Asian American voters in Richmond Hill and Ozone Park, Queens and halt the start of the petitioning process until new maps could be drawn.
https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-council-candidates-hit-the-streets-even-as-lawsuit-to-halt-petitioning-looms