Drawing Lines: NY Redistricting Commission Seeking Public Comment Through Mid-August

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Public input sessions will be held until mid-August across the state in the first-ever public redistricting process where average New Yorkers have the opportunity to weigh-in on their district lines. 

Redistricting is the process by which new congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn, and new boundary lines are drawn every 10 years that decide congressional, state Senate and state Assembly seats. This time around, those lines will be drawn by the Independent Redistricting Commission – which was created in 2014 by voters in New York State to determine redistricting after the completion of the 2020 Census.

Members of the commission held a meeting virtually on Aug. 2 that focused on the Capital Region and the Mid-Hudson Valley. 

“On Aug. 16, the Census Bureau will release New York’s redistricting census data, which will be used to draft our initial set of lines,” explained David Imamura, during the Aug. 2 meeting. Imamura, an attorney, is chair of the 10-member New York State Independent Redistricting Commission. This week’s meeting included members Elaine Frazier of Albany, Willis Stephens, Jr., John Conway III, and Ivelisse Cuevas-Molina.

The Commission is actively soliciting input from communities, and stresses that as it embarks on the process of drawing the future district lines of New York State, feedback and guidance from the residents of New York “is of the utmost importance and at the core of the Commission’s goal to fairly and equitably redraw Congressional and State Legislature lines.”

Upcoming virtual meetings welcoming live public input will be held 2 p.m. Monday, Aug. 9 (focusing on the Southern Tier of N.Y. and Central N.Y.), and 2 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 12 (Finger Lakes and Western NY). “We also will be having a catch-all session in mid-August, prior to drawing the lines,” Imamura said. That session date has not yet been announced. Materials such as letters and maps may also be submitted separately from the meetings, via the commission website. 

Timeline: Public feedback is currently welcome, in advance of the release of census data. After the Census Bureau releases its data on Aug. 16, the Independent Redistricting Commission, or IRC, will start drawing its “initial set of lines.” Those will be released by Sept. 15, and one month later the public will be asked for their input on the proposed lines, Imamura said. Potential modifications will subsequently be made and the completed proposal will be submitted to the legislature in January, 2022.  Election Primaries next take place in June 2022. 

To take part in the sessions, submit materials such as letters and maps, and for more information go to:  www.nyirc.gov.