NYS Senate Votes Down Independent Redistricting Commission Map, Will Draw Own Map

By Hamodia Staff

The New York State Senate has voted to reject, by a vote of 40 to 17, the electoral maps that the Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) had recently approved.

The NYS legislature will now draw their own maps and vote on them.

When the IRC could not agree on the maps the first time, the legislature drew their own, which were ruled unfair by the courts in March 2022, and the judge appointed Special Master Jonathan Cervas to draw them fairly. That ruling was challenged in the NYS Court of Appeals, which ruled that the judge did not have the right to appoint the special master.

The court ordered the IRC to work once again at drawing redistricting maps, which they did, leaving most districts intact and making only minor changes. They were then sent to the legislature for approval, and the heavily Democrat legislature rejected them, giving themselves another chance at gerrymandering the maps to their advantage.

Once the legislature redraws the maps, they may still be subject to a legal challenge by the Republicans, and it is possible for the courts to rule them unfair and disapprove of them if they are gerrymandered.