Redistricting, redistricting

Gerald Benjamin, former director of the Center for the New York State and Local Government Studies at SUNY's Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany, has written an article about the current status of our on-going redistricting experience.

The partisan character of the Legislature's work has not just been asserted, it's been clearly demonstrated in an analysis by the Center for Urban Research. So there is a basis for judgment and comparison. It's clear that competitive districts can be drawn. They can meet federal one person, one vote and Voting Rights Act requirements and take account of the state's regional and demographic communities of interest — and result in fairer elections.

. . . we must pass a state constitutional amendment placing redistricting beyond the reach of change by the ordinary state legislative process. We need to entirely replace what are an outdated, arcane, substantially invalid constitutional provisions.

A constitutional amendment must provide for an independent commission with an odd number of members (5 to 13) appointed by a diversity of authorities exclusively from a pool of interested citizens. Lobbyists, elected officials and those directly or indirectly dependent upon them for employment could not serve. Members would reflect the political and demographic diversity of the state.

They would have a clear timetable and employ clear criteria, including in order of priority: compliance with federal requirements, observance of the integrity of the state's regions — defined by its natural and built environment — and recognition within regions of social and demographic communities of interest.

As we have noted previously, perhaps, if more people contacted their representatives to express outrage, legislators might be more responsive. You can be one of those people by contacting the Senate switchboard at 518-455-2800 and the Assembly switchboard at 518-455-4100. Feel free to tell someone you read about it here.