
Current Congressional district map for New York City. Image Credit: New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reappointment.
The Redistricting Schedule
On November 2, 2021, New York State voters will be asked to approve a constitutional amendment revising the redistricting process to be based on the 2020 census. If the constitutional amendment is approved, the changes will take effect on January 1, 2022. This amendment is necessary to address delays in the census created by the pandemic and to accommodate New York State’s change from a September primary to an earlier June primary for both federal and state elections. These changes compressed the time needed to complete the redistricting. Without these changes, it is possible that the new districts will not be ready in time for the political process to function. (more…)

An example of the redistricting map from the 2012-2013 Districting Commission that outlines changes to district map boundaries. The new Commission will prepare the same ahead of the next Council elections in 2023. Image Credit: NYC Districting Commission.
The Commission will help with the redesign of the City Council district boundaries. On March 7, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams announced his seven appointees to the New York City Districting Commission. The Commission is responsible for redrawing council district boundaries as required every ten years by the City Charter following the national census. The redistricting helps the City Council reflect changes in demographics and population. (more…)
Prison gerrymandering manipulates the boundaries of electoral districts by inflating the districts with incarcerated individuals who have no real relationship to the districts where the prisons are located. Incarcerated individuals in New York are not allowed to vote. As a result, in districts with prisons and large prison populations the votes of the voters who can vote become more powerful compared to the vote of the voters in districts without a prison population. At the same time, the districts which include the actual residences and homes of the incarcerated individuals have less political representation. This dilutes their political influence as those districts become underrepresented compared with districts with incarcerated persons. (more…)

Jeffrey Wice, Adjunct Professor and Senior Fellow.
According to a new report released on December 22, 2020 by Election Data Services, Inc. (EDS), New York State could lose up to two congressional districts after the official state population totals are announced in January. (more…)