League Comments on Proposed New District Maps

5/17/22

Judge McAllister and Dr. Cervas,

The League of Women Voters of Saratoga County is a non-partisan group of over 200 members working to empower voters through education and advocacy. We submitted testimony to the Independent Redistricting Commission both before the first maps were drawn and after the maps were released for comment.

The Saratoga County League asked that you respect and preserve the municipal and county boundaries by which we already identify ourselves and conduct our lives.

We are very pleased to see that the Special Master’s Senate District Map puts all of Saratoga County into one Senate District (the 44th) and honors our request to have our community of interest with the Capital District respected by putting us in a Senate District with Schenectady and Niskayuna. We hope this district stays as drawn.

In our previous testimony we pointed out that Saratoga County should be a part of a Capital District Congressional District. We noted that the majority of our residents are more oriented towards the Capital District than to the North Country. Significant proportions of our population are employed in State government, and in other large businesses in Albany and Schenectady. We are part of the CDTA (Capital District Transportation Authority) and Capital District Regional Planning Commission (CDRPC). Our hospital is affiliated with Albany Medical Center, and most of our medical providers are also affiliated with Capital Region groups. Therefore, we request that the entire County be included in one Congressional District, and we request that you redraw the Congressional map in such a way that we are included with the Capital District area.

Thank you.
Ann Marie Pendergast
Steering Committee
League of Women Voters of Saratoga County

New Yorkers Deserve Transparent Redistricting

The Legislature has disrespected the process put in place by voters in 2014 by planning to steamroll redistricting legislation through the Assembly and Senate.

Read the full statement of the League of Women Voters of New York below.

January 26, 2022 Submitted Via Email

Honorable Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Senate Temporary President and Majority Leader
Honorable Carl Heastie, Assembly Speaker
Honorable Robert Ortt, Senate Minority Leader
Honorable William Barclay, Assembly Minority Leader

Dear Messrs. Heastie, Ortt, Barclay and Ms. Stewart-Cousins:
Over the last months, thousands of New Yorkers participated in the redistricting process with the belief that their testimonies, comments, and proposed maps would contribute to the final maps. Now, after the Independent Redistricting Commission has failed to submit a second redistricting plan to the Legislature, the responsibility for drawing fair and truly representative legislative lines falls on state lawmakers. We are writing to you as leaders of the Legislature to remind you of your responsibilities to the public in the redistricting process.

The Legislature can introduce amendments to the plans first submitted by the Independent Redistricting Commission, which must comply with all Federal and state constitutional standards including the ban on partisan gerrymandering approved by the voters in 2014. Under state law, the Legislature’s plan must also not impact more than 2% of the population of any district contained in the Commission submitted plan that is being amended.

We urge the Legislature to publicly release the amended plan as well as the underlying data as soon as possible after it is proposed. That release should be followed by a period during which the public can review the proposed districts before any vote.

Communities impacted by the amendments, including those protected by the Voting Rights Act, should have the opportunity to offer input during a public hearing. We realize that the time for this will be limited, but it is important to demonstrate that the Legislature has the public interest in mind rather than partisan self-interest. The participation of so many New Yorkers in the process in the last year should not go to waste.
The redistricting process to date has failed to live up to voter expectations when they approved the 2014 Constitutional amendment. However, there is still time for the Legislature to demonstrate its commitment to transparency and adherence to the Constitutional standards approved by voters.

Sincerely,

Laura Ladd Bierman
Executive Director
League of Women Voters of New York State

Betsy Gotbaum
Executive Director
Citizens Union of the City of New York

John Kaehny
Executive Director
Reinvent Albany

Disappointing Redistricting Vote

Disappointed with the Independent Redistricting Commission Vote Along Party Lines

The League of Women Voters of New York .State, Citizens Union, and Reinvent Albany have sent a letter to the Independent Redistricting Commission in response to their January 3rd meeting.

Letter to the Redistricting Commission (submitted via email)
January 3, 2022

Dear Commissioners,

We are writing to express our disappointment with the results of today’s public meeting in which you cast five votes each along partisan lines for separate sets of Congressional and legislative maps. The failure of the Commission to collaboratively use the input from public comments and hearings across the State to develop a single set of maps constitutes an abdication of your responsibility as Commissioners.

When New Yorkers voted to approve the Independent Redistricting Commission in 2014, they did so with the hope and expectation that it would act independently of the incumbent legislature and curtail extreme partisan gerrymandering. Today’s failure of the Commission to set aside partisanship and collaborate comes at the expense of New York State residents. This is not inevitable deadlock; it is a dereliction of duty.

Thousands of New Yorkers have participated in the 2021 redistricting process with the belief that their testimonies, comments, and proposed maps would contribute to a united set of maps produced by an Independent Commission. New Yorkers were counting on you in this first-time process to approve one set of maps to be sent to the legislature. Unfortunately, that did not happen.

The next stage of the process will be the legislature voting on implementing legislation for at least one of the submitted plans, without amendment. If either house fails to approve the legislation or the Governor vetoes, then you will be asked to a submit a second set of plans. Only if that second plan fails to win approval is the legislature allowed to introduce amendments, which will need to comply with all constitutional standards including the ban on partisan gerrymandering put in by the voters in 2014.

If it is necessary for you to submit an additional plan to the legislature, we hope you will act collaboratively in the best interest of all the voters of this state by submitting a single plan.

Sincerely,

Laura Ladd Bierman
Executive Director, League of Women Voters of New York State

Betsy Gotbaum
Executive Director, Citizens Union of the City of New York

John Kaehny
Executive Director, Reinvent Albany

New redistricting maps must reflect voters' interests

Letter to the editor published in the Albany Times Union of December 10

The members of the One Person, One Vote Coalition, which includes the Albany, Saratoga, and Rensselaer County League of Women Voters as well as the Albany LatinFest Association, the NAACP Branches of Albany and Troy, the Capital Area Council of Churches and The Capital Area Urban League, are pleased that the state Independent Redistricting Commission has set Jan. 3 as the date for adoption of its maps to be submitted to the Legislature. This early date minimizes the potentially serious problem of the legislative and congressional districts not being finalized before the 2022 election process is underway.

However, we are concerned with the commission's inability so far to agree on one set of maps for the new congressional, senate and assembly districts. It is critical if the constitutional process is to work that the commission not repeat the issuance of two sets of maps, one supported by the Democratic-aligned commissioners and the other by the Republican-aligned commissioners.

It is the view of this coalition that failure to agree on maps that reflect the interests of the citizenry of New York makes all the work of the commission meaningless. Finally, we urge both the commission and the Legislature to adopt maps that are based on the interests of the voters, not based on the interests of the political parties, their officeholders and candidates.

Patricia Sibilia
Slingerlands
President, League of Women Voters Albany County

The Dueling Map State of NYS Redistricting

On September 15th my computer was set to the live feed of New York State’s Independent Redistricting Commission as it prepared to unveil its first draft of new Congressional, State Senate and State Assembly District maps. I was eager to see this independent body take an historic step towards putting the people’s district needs ahead of party districting interests. As one commissioner after another spoke, however, it became clear that there had been neither progress nor compromise. Instead, the Commission Democrats and Commission Republicans each offered up their own set of maps.

A recent Capital Tonight broadcast featured Albany County League member Richard Rifkin, who has been an important voice in the One Person One Vote Coalition, of which both the Albany and Saratoga Leagues are members. Richard offered his thoughts on the redistricting process now underway in New York. Here is an excerpt from Susan Arbetter’s summary of the broadcast.

According to Rivkin, the commission was a compromise when it was adopted in 2014, which left the Legislature in charge of the final maps.

“[The IRC] was given the authority to draft the initial maps, but the end maps, the end result, the maps had to be approved by the Legislature much as they always have. So, the question is, how different is this?” Rivkin asked.

To Rifkin’s mind, it could be significantly different, but that will depend on whether the IRC’s maps are embraced by the public.

“My view, is if the commission succeeds, and they’re not off to a good start, but if it succeeds in drawing a map that is fair to the voters instead of the political parties and the legal office holders, then there will be public support for what the commission has done, and with public support, the Legislature would then be faced with that support…at the time it draws its maps.”

In other words, Rifkin believes that if the maps drawn by the IRC are embraced by the public, the Legislature would have to incorporate them into the final maps.

“That was the intent. We will see if it works,” Rifkin said.

The IRC is currently holding hearings around the state. The hearing for the Capital Region, which includes Saratoga County, is scheduled at 4 p.m. on November 1 at Page Hall on the SUNY downtown campus in Albany. More than ever, the commissioners must know that we are watching.

Click here for information about watching, attending or submitting testimony: https://nyirc.gov/meetings

Link to the full broadcast summary: https://nystateofpolitics.com/state-of-politics/new-york/politics/2021/10/07/former-spitzer-counsel-richard-rifkin-discusses-ny-redistricting

By Elizabeth Rossi
October 21, 2021