A New York State judge struck down the recently agreed upon legislative maps Thursday afternoon, sending state lawmakers back to the drawing board. They have until April 11 to agree upon new maps, the ruling says; the previously approved maps are not to be used in the upcoming election cycle.
This comes hours after legislators left Albany for the weekend, doing so without the state budget — which expires at midnight — approved.
The maps just nixed by Acting Supreme Court Justice Patrick McAllister of Steuban County were the culmination of a drawn-out redistricting process following the 2020 Census. For the first time in its history, the state had given an Independent Redistricting Committee the task of drawing the lines; when the committee failed to reach an agreement, at the end of January, the Democrat-controlled Legislature took up the mantle as it had in years past.
The ruling includes the proposed maps for New York’s congressional, state Senate and Assembly districts.
Soon after that, Republicans filed a lawsuit challenging the lines, as many anticipated. Asked about a possible challenge at the time, state Sen. Mike Gianaris (D-Astoria), who has been on the front lines of the redistricting fight, told WNYC’s Brian Lehrer, “When the time comes, we’re confident we’ll make our case to the court and be successful.”
