N.Y. moves some primaries to August after a judge tosses maps

[brooklynite]

Source: NPR

New York will hold its congressional and state Senate primaries on Aug. 23, a state judge ordered Friday.

Steuben County Judge Patrick McAllister said that special master Jonathan Cervas will finish drawing up new maps by May 20.

In the meantime, state and local election officials will prepare to once again hold separate primaries in June and August.

New York is set to hold gubernatorial and state Assembly primaries in June, unless lawmakers decide to delay.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2022/04/29/1095657939/new-york-voting-august

[James48]

1. Every state should look at Michigan.

We had a “voters, not politicians” change to our state Constitution as ballot drive, and then an independent citizens panel drew the lines. It took almost a year, but I think we ended up with much better maps here.

Every state should look at how we did it, and see if that type of change can be applied in their state. No more politicians picking their voters; no “special masters”, much reduced level of gerrymandering.

[cstanleytech]

3. Alot of politicians would be opposed to that most especially Republican ones here in the south.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

5. Not everyone is pleased by Michigan's new map

Some Super-Packed-Democratic districts were un-Gerrymandered to make the whole map more equitable between Dems and Reps. As a consequence, there are fewer "Majority-minority" districts which can count on a person of color winning a seat.

It should be an interesting election season.

[Rhiannon12866]

2. As if it wasn't already confusing enough when we really need every vote!

[Icanthinkformyself]

4. The NY Court of Appeals

has severely damaged the Democrat's opportunity to expand it's House majority. What was once the silver lining of the mid-terms, redistricting favoring the forces of light, has turned into a dark side advantage. Even states run by Democrats can't seem to help keep democracy alive. I was very optimistic about D chances in November. Now, not so much. It's become a heavy lift and we will need every last vote we can drag to the voting booth. It may not be enough. Republicans will have success in NY only because conservative Democrats allow it.

[Polybius]

6. The judges weren't "conservative Democrats"

They were liberal Democrats who chose to follow the law over their own personal beliefs, unlike the 3 dissenters. In 2014, NY voters chose to ban gerrymandering. It was the right decision by the judges in the majority.

[lapucelle]

8. Thank you.

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York's highest court on Wednesday rejected new congressional maps that had widely been seen as favoring Democrats, largely agreeing with Republican voters who argued the district boundaries were unconstitutionally gerrymandered.

The state's Court of Appeals said lawmakers lacked the authority to pass the congressional and state Senate maps after an independent redistricting commission failed to reach a consensus.

The judges also said lawmakers gerrymandered the congressional maps to Democrats' favor, in violation of a 2014 constitutional amendment designed to rout out political gamesmanship in redistricting.

snip====================================================

Under a process passed 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, couldn't agree on one set of maps. The Democratic-controlled Legislature then stepped in and created its own maps, quickly signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Republicans then sued, seeing to have the maps tossed for violating a provision in the state constitution barring the redrawing of districts for partisan gain. Similar legal battles have been playing out in several other states.

https://www.npr.org/2022/04/27/1095100208/new-york-redistricting-rejected

[FBaggins]

7. No they didn't

The state legislature’s overreach did the damage.

The courts just did their job.

When “cheat to stay in power “ becomes “keep democracy alive” in your mind… you’ve jumped the shark.