New York redistricting panel sends map proposal to state legislature

New York's Independent Redistricting Commission on Thursday voted to send its proposal for new congressional district lines in the Empire State to the Albany legislature for approval.

The commission voted 9-1 to pass along the proposal, The Hill reported. Both the legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., must approve the maps for them to take effect. Should they do so, it will conclude a lengthy redistricting process that has twice seen a map slate rejected by the courts.

In 2022, the state's bipartisan IRC could not agree on a single proposal for the revised congressional lines and instead submitted a pair of maps to the legislature. The Democratic-dominated state government rejected both proposals and drew up their own district lines. 

In turn, Steuben County State Supreme Court Judge Patrick McAllister struck down the legislature's maps and ordered a special master to draw the district lines. That set of maps was in effect for the 2022 midterm elections.

In December of 2023, however, the New York Court of Appeals ordered the IRC to redraw the district maps and submit a proposal to the legislature, determining that the panel should have been permitted to send a second proposal to the legislature after it rejected its original proposal.

The IRC's current proposal largely resembles the court-ordered map slate from the 2022 elections, albeit with minor tweaks.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.