NEW YORK, NY (01/20/2012)(readMedia)-- After weeks of speculation about a 63rd Senate District, Common Cause/NY has weighed in on the possible ramifications of such a decision and drawn a 63 district reform plan. Common Cause strongly disapproves of the Senate Republican's plan to draw a 63rd Senate District in New York State, however, if the official map has 63 districts, the fairest possible result for the voters would be to follow the population distribution and put the district in New York City.

"Putting an additional Senate district anywhere but in New York City systematically distorts the regional balance of the state and constitutes an automatic gerrymander. It would perpetuate an objectionable practice of diluting NYC voting power and under-populating upstate districts to politically advantage Senate Republicans," said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY.

In the current 62 seat plan, there are 25 Senate districts upstate and 28 within New York City and Southern Westchester (two districts cross Bronx-Westchester). This apportionment is already skewed – the 25 upstate districts are under-populated at an average of -2.82%, and the 28 downstate districts (not including Long Island) are over-populated at an average of +2.23%. The current plan was drawn to create an extra district upstate, with one less district in New York City.

In a 63 seat plan with an additional upstate district, upstate districts would have to be under-populated by close to -4%, with districts in New York City over-populated at a similar level.

In contrast, adding a 63rd seat in New York City would produce districts that are almost equal in population in the true spirit of the constitution's principle of "one person, one vote".

In December, Common Cause released the first set of maps for state and federal office, offering New Yorkers an alternative vision of what non-gerrymandered maps might look like. The maps were drawn according to strict good government principles and over 20,000 New Yorkers have gotten involved in redistricting through the project. Common Cause's maps were drawn with the public's interest in mind, and do not take into account party enrollment, election results, or residence of existing incumbents. The maps reflect the demographic reality of the state.

View Common Cause 63 District Senate Reform map: www.citizenredistrictny.org/reform-maps/state-senate-63-seats

View all Common Cause reform maps: www.citizenredistrictny.org/reform-maps

Posted Friday January 20, 2012 at 03:30 pm by Common Cause of New York
Last Updated Thursday January 26, 2012 at 05:12 pm