From NY1:It almost goes without saying that in a functioning democracy, the voters choose their representatives. But some say it’s the other way around in New York where by drawing their own district lines, Albany lawmakers can pick and choose which voters they represent -- a longstanding phenomenon known as gerrymandering.
By law, the lines must be redrawn every 10 years, with New York divided up into districts for each of its 62 state senators; 150 State Assembly members; and 29 members of the House of Representatives.
So who exactly gets to draw the lines? It’s a process essentially controlled by the leaders of each house in Albany -- the Assembly speaker and the leader of the State Senate. And historically, they’ve drawn the lines to make sure their members get reelected, and that their party remains in power.
With the redistricting process set to begin early next year, there’s a major push to reform the process now, or else change will have to wait another 10 years.
30 comments:
Gerrymandering will end at the same time that it can be proven that the sun has burned out. There's no way that district lines without someone's ox being gored.
I meant that district lines cannot be fairly redrawn without someone's ox being gored. Sorry, Crapper.
but it always ends up with all candidates getting screwed except democrat, liberal,progressives ?
Is NY1 really that stupid, or they think we're that stupid enough to believe this?
To Anon No. 3:
Like who? Why is Frank Padavan's district set up the way it is?
Incumbents protect their own, whether they be Democrats or Republicans. If the Republicans regain control of the State Senate this year (a reasonable assumption), we'll have the same kind of gerrymandering as before. History has proven that.
If the Republicans win control of the Assembly (hard to imagine), would they cut the lines in a completely fair fashion?
Those who have will always screw those who don't.
Mystery Man Gianaris was interviewed on NY1 as submitting the bill, you know, the guy that is running unopposed for the Senate, nominated his neighborhor to replace him in the Assembly, and knows the ways of power distribution far better than anyone else.
So take this effort from there, dear folks.
Gerrymandering is not unique to New York; every state has the same exact issue. On the Federal side, the Senate is the only body not really impacted by district lines. Some consider state lines another form of gerrymandering, which is why the New England states have much more representation in that legislative body than places with comparable sized populations, such as Texas. (Of course, that could be solved by splitting Texas into 5 smaller-sized states, which is unlikely to happen!). My point is that this issue is the drawing of districts is not unique to New York. We could address some of these problems with more parties, but then we have the "coalition government" problem that plagues so many other democracies. There is no such thing as a perfect government, but I think the "more perfect union" issue the U.S. aspired to be has been proven to be wishful thinking.
Gianaris has been praised as leading the fight on reforming Albany but I guess that doesn't fit your storyline.
Gianaris has been praised in leading the fight to reign in Con Ed and Vallone has been praised in reigning in development and Onorato has been praised ...
well look at it this way, there hasn't been one leader with a good machine behind him that hasn't been praised for something.
He reformed Albany by knocking all of Aravella's primary opponents out of contention so she could run unopposed in November? Or did the rest drop out because she is sooooo qualified?
Gerrymandering is not unique to New York; every state has the same exact issue.
Not true, hack.
Everyone knows that NY is in a class by itself in disfranchising people.
The midwest is leading the fight in non-partisan commissions drawing redistricting lines.
See the areas that are swing states? They are the ones that get all the attention. There is a reason for that.
Gianaris has been praised as leading the fight on reforming Albany but I guess that doesn't fit your storyline.
(yawn) its dem agin.
"Everyone knows that NY is in a class by itself in disfranchising people. "
Sweetie, there isn't anything that "everyone" knows.
Might be time to whip out that Democratic Dictionary again.
not sure how someone can knock opponents out. Didnt the savior Pearson drop out on his own and didn't that lawyer live outside the district. Seems like you have no argument but not surprising.
Yeah, sure, he dropped out on his own. Okay.
Sorry, I don't live in Astoria so I don't buy that crap.
To Anon No. 11:
As opposed to the state of Texas, where the Congressional lines were deliberately redrawn to ensure that the Republicans would win more seats.
come on guys - do you think we are some surly old guy in a social club or some clueless newbie won over by a newspaper headline?
means streets in crapland
of course you hacks all know this:
http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=139&subid=900083&contentid=252625
http://archive.fairvote.org/redistricting/reports/remanual/ianews.htm
I will give Gianaris credit for organizing the protest for the Con Ed turbine that went up next to the Queensboro Bridge and the "landmarked" Terra Cotta Building, but those efforts fell on deaf ears because and were squashed by Bloomberg & NYPA since it is used primarily for the Queens West fiasco. I laughed at the compromise where Queens residents were told that the Terra Cotta building was going to be "saved" and trees were to be planted to hide the turbine. Neither of these have been done and I believe this "promise" was about 7 years ago.
A lot of good this eyesore did for the neighborhood. Not counting the blackouts of three years ago, I count at least 3 brownouts that happened in the area.
But I'm sure there was plenty of air conditioning going at Queens West while everyone else's food spoiled.
How about Gianaris telling the community that allm that was needed to fix the sewage plart was a part ... in 2008.
The boroughs need to be divided up by neighborhoods. It's unfair to a community to have two different people representing different parts of the same neighborhood. It would be more effective if neighborhoods were kept intact and only one person representing it. It's supposed to be about the PEOPLE, not the Politics.
Gerrymandering - keeps Rep Crowley awash in votes each election. Imagine how he relates to those in the S Bronx and Queens.
For decades the state of Iowa has used a non-partisan commission to draw district lines. Political considerations CAN NOT be taken into account when drawing the districts. It's worked very well for three decades:
http://www.legis.state.ia.us/Central/LSB/Guides/redist.htm
I remember studying the Iowa system as an undergraduate Political Science student in the '80s. I've been pushing for a similar system in NY since then.
This has become a hot issue lately but most candidates and elected officials have no clue of the alternatives to the corrupt system of gerrymandering that goes on in Albany today. However, as long as our voters keep voting for lapdogs of the current leadership and candidates that are in the pocket of lobbyists and special interests, there is no hope for redistricting reform to take place in New York.
This has become a hot issue lately but most candidates and elected officials have no clue of the alternatives to the corrupt system of gerrymandering that goes on in Albany today.
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Steve, as a typical 'goo-goo' you don't understand the system. That is why reformers are always one hit wonders.
The pols understand exactly what they are doing and exactly why they are doing it.
@Missing Foundation: I understand it's a bit Quixotic and I certainly know the pols know exactly what they're doing.
I just hope that one day the voters will wake up and not vote for candidates like....opps! I almost said too much! LOL!
Thomas Jefferson invented precincts and gerrymandering in order to bring agrarian democracy to the cities. Without it, we would have at-large representatives who would only care about broad ideologies and no one would fix your local traffic light.
Without it, we would have at-large representatives who would only care about broad ideologies and no one would fix your local traffic light.
You mean like overdevelopment?
Well that problem is solved by the clubhouse, eh?
Behar, you unprofessional little girl, you lost...not by a little but a whole lot!
Elio "Mr. Confession" Forcina almost tied you...how pathetic!
82% of the turn-out voted against you!
Take the hint.
Will you please fade away?
82% of the turn-out voted against you!
So what does that mean besides voter apathy, or should we say disgust, and machine power?
You could run a yellow dog against Mother Teresa in Queens and with the backing of 'Honest Joe' and 'tha bhoys' he would get elected.
Ever hear of a Yellow Dog Democrat?
@Bayside Man:
1. You seem a little obsessed with me. Do you have a crush on me?
2. I wonder why you don't say this to my face....actually I know why you don't say it to my face. Got beat up in the school yard when you were a kid? Too bad!
3. Of course you don't like it when people run for office. You don't believe that people shouldn't have a choice. You would prefer a system like Saddam Hussein's Ba'thist Party where Hussein would win every election with 100% of the vote. You'd rather have one party, perhaps a political consultancy with a pecuniary interest in the decision, decide who the candidate will be.
Thank goodness we have laws in this country such as the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (commonly referred to as the RICO Act) to prevent that from happening. If that ever happened here, we'd have to alert the Department of Justice and the Office of the U.S. Attorney to investigate.
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