The legislative session in Albany ends on June 20, and one important aspect has yet to be resolved: redistricting. Redistricting is the least talked about but arguably the most important political process in America.
Redistricting is a revision of boundaries that create legislative districts in the state. It is a threshold issue that determines how much your elected officials listen to voters (i.e. You!) at a local level. Without fairly drawn districts, incumbents or political parties can manipulate voters for their own advantage.
After each census, a process of reapportionment and redistricting begins in the states. The federal courts require that every district contain approximately the same number of voters, so shifts in population require that U.S. House seats be reapportioned between the states. States that lose or gain seats must necessarily redraw their congressional districts to take this into account. Even in states that do not gain or lose Congressional seats, shifts of populations within regions of the state can also require the redrawing of districts.
Based on 2010 Census results, New York will lose two congressional seats. More than likely, with Republicans holding the state Senate and Democrats holding the state Assembly, a redistricting compromise will be reached so that each party loses a seat.
In this redistricting process, gerrymandering – the manipulation of district lines for political advantage – has become the political weapon of choice.
The two main strategies that are used in partisan gerrymandering are called "cracking" and "packing."
In “cracking”, district lines are redrawn to ensure that the opposing party's pockets of voting strength are divided up so that they become permanent minorities in most districts.
The “packing” strategy is used when the opposing party's strength is too large to be completely divided. Instead, lines are redrawn to concentrate most of that party's voters in one district so that many of its votes will be wasted in an overly large majority
One congressional seat the Democrats may agree to give up is our 9th congressional district, recently vacated held by scandal-ridden Congressman Anthony Weiner. Eliminating this seat could solidify surrounding Democrats’ power as they carve out ("crack") and redistribute sections of his district. By “cracking” the 9th C.D., in which several areas have been trending Republican in the recent past, the Democrats could ensure they maintain complete control of southeast Queens and portions of Brooklyn.
It’s worth noting that State Senator Joe Adabbo, when asked if he might consider running for Weiner’s vacated 9th C.D. seat, raised the very real possibility of redistricting when he stated, “the stability of the 9th Congressional District seat might not be there — and people who would run would have to consider that.” (Translation – “If the 9th C.D. is going to be redistricted, why would I give up my State Senator job?”)
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