Politics

New York Court Sides With Dems’ Bid To Redraw 2024 Congressional Maps

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A New York appeals court sided with Democrats Thursday in their effort to have the state’s congressional maps redrawn for 2024 after the previous ones were rejected last year.

The maps initially drawn by the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission were thrown out last year after New York’s highest court found they had been gerrymandered, leaving the 2022 lines to be drawn by a court-appointed expert. Republicans flipped four congressional seats during the 2022 midterms using the court-appointed expert-drawn maps, according to The Associated Press.

A New York appeals court directed the IRC Thursday to “commence its duties forthwith” and redraw the maps.

“The right to participate in the democratic process is the most essential right in our system of governance,” the court wrote. “The procedures governing the redistricting process, all too easily abused by those who would seek to minimize the voters’ voice and entrench themselves in the seats of power, must be guarded as jealously as the right to vote itself; in granting this petition, we return the matter to its constitutional design.”

“On to the Court of Appeals,” former Republican Rep. John Faso said in a statement, according to AP. “Democrats want to rig the congressional district lines in their favor. New York State now has more competitive congressional districts than any state in the nation.”