ALBANY, New York (AP) – The New York Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected new congressional maps widely considered to be in favor of Democrats, largely agreeing with Republican voters who say the county’s boundaries have been unconstitutionally changed.
The decision could delay New York’s primary election by up to two months and is likely to hammer on Democrats’ hopes of relocating national districts, which relied heavily on their ability to run New York State to maximize seats. who could win in the US House of Representatives.
The U.S. Court of Appeals said the Democrat-led legislature has no power to redraw maps of Congress and the U.S. Senate after an independent reorganization commission tasked with drafting new maps failed to reach a consensus.
Judges also said lawmakers had changed congressional maps in favor of Democrats, in violation of a 2014 constitutional amendment designed to destroy political games in redistribution.
The Court of Appeal has delegated the power to draw up new district maps to an expert known as a special foreman instead of the legislature.
“Prompt judicial intervention is both necessary and appropriate to guarantee the people’s right to free and fair elections,” the court said in a statement written by Chief Justice Janet Difiore.
The decision does not specify a deadline for accepting new cards. But judges said they were referring the matter to a lower state court, which “will adopt constitutional cards as quickly as possible.”
“It will probably be necessary,” DeFiore writes, “to move the primary elections to Congress and the U.S. Senate from June 28 to August to give time for the maps to be redrawn and for candidates and election officials to adjust their plans.”
The State Electoral Council said it did not anticipate that the primary date would be changed for other contests, including a governor and an assembly.
The decision comes as a serious blow to Democrats in their fight to prevent Republicans from regaining control of the US House of Representatives.
Due to new population data from the 2020 census, New York will lose one seat in Congress in 2021. Legislative maps would give Democrats a strong majority of registered voters in 22 of Congress’ 26 counties the state. Republicans currently hold eight of the state’s 27 seats.
Democrats hoped the redirection card, favorable to their party in New York, could help offset expected losses in other states where Republicans control the state government.
“Although we are disappointed with the Court’s ruling, we remain confident that Democrats will win up and down the ballot this November,” said Jay Jacobs, chairman of the Democratic Party in New York.
Former New York Republican John Faso called it a “remarkable decision” and told reporters during a conversation Wednesday night that the decision was a signal to future legislators to follow the letter of the state-approved redirection law.
“This will require bipartisan cooperation, and that is what the people voted for,” he said.
According to a process adopted by voters in 2014, the new maps of New York City areas had to be drawn up by an independent commission. But this body, made up of an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, could not agree on a set of cards. The Democrat-controlled legislature then intervened and quickly created its own maps, quickly signed by Democrat Governor Kati Hochul.
The Court of Appeal, composed of judges appointed entirely by Democratic governors, sided with Republican plaintiffs, who argued that the legislature had circumvented the process set out in the 2014 reforms, including a provision in the state constitution prohibiting redrawing of counties. party profit.
“The legislature has responded by creating and introducing maps in a non-transparent way, controlled exclusively by the dominant political party – doing exactly what it would have done if the 2014 constitutional reforms had never been adopted,” DieFiore wrote.
Four of the seven judges on the Court of Appeal agreed with the majority, with a fifth agreeing that the Senate and Congressional cards were unconstitutional for procedural reasons.
Democrats’ lawyers say the legislature is legally allowed to make its own maps when the redirection committee fails to reach a consensus. Democrats also said their maps reflect population changes and bring together similar geographical and cultural communities separated by earlier circles of manipulation.
But judges took on the Democrats’ task of drawing up maps that reduced the number of competing districts and asking the court to essentially “undo” the 2014 reforms.
According to the majority, DiFiore said maintaining the tainted process would only encourage guerrillas involved in the Independent Redistribution Commission process to avoid consensus in the future, “thus allowing the legislature to intervene and create new ones.” maps only by creating a stalemate at every stage of the IRC process. “
Two lower-level courts also ruled that the cards were unconstitutional and gave the legislature a deadline of April 30 to draw new maps or leave the task to a court-appointed expert. This deadline has already been canceled.
Meanwhile, candidates have already launched a campaign in the new districts, although they are not sure whether these districts will still exist until the start of the vote.
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Associated Press writer Nicolas Ricardi of Denver contributed to this report.
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