With vote near, redistricting debate heats up

Correction appended.

On Tuesday, Nov. 4, along with choosing federal, state and local officials, voters will decide on a state constitutional amendment that would affect redistricting.

Recent weeks have seen a firestorm of debate over whether the amendment would truly reform the way the state carves the districts for the Assembly, state Senate and the Congress.

On Oct. 1, speakers from good government groups that have taken opposite stances on the resolution shared their views with members of Riverdale’s Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club.

While state law currently requires the legislature to do redistricting every ten years, following the latest U.S. census, proposition one on November’s general ballot would create a 10-member commission responsible for making new district maps.

Rachael Fauss, the director of public policy for Citizens Union, said the proposal would ban gerrymandering, guarantee minority group’s voting rights and curb the legislature’s monopoly on control of the redistricting process.

But Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause, said the commission would not be independent, but would in fact enshrine gerrymandering, the widespread practice of manipulating district boundaries to favor a certain candidate or party.

‘A rare opportunity’

Ms. Fauss started the evening off with a 10-minute speech extolling the proposition.

“This is a rare opportunity we believe should not be missed,” she said. “It’s our chance to take power back in the redistricting process.”

She said the amendment would ban gerrymandering because members of the redistricting panel would come from both parties, with the majority and minority leaders of the state Senate and Assembly having equal say on who joins the 10-member committee.

Ms. Fauss also praised parts of the amendment aimed at guaranteeing minority voting rights, saying the provisions were especially important in light of a recent Supreme Court decision that invalidated parts of the Voting Rights Act.