Congressional District Map Approved by NYS Legislature on Feb. 2, 2022

CBS News reports an State Appeals Judge has declined to slow down New York’s primary elections amid a battle over the state’s redistricting plan, but said he would allow a lower court judge to hire an expert to draw up alternative congressional district maps in case the disputed ones ultimately get tossed.

The ruling by state Appellate Division Justice Stephen Lindley on Friday essentially hands the decision about the constitutionality of the redistricting plan over to a higher court, while creating one possible contingency for keeping the elections on schedule. Lindley sits on the state’s mid-level appeals court in Rochester.

Lindley’s ruling said the state board of elections can still accept petitions filed by candidates running for office in the new districts.

New York’s primary season was potentially upended the previous week when Judge Patrick McAllister declared that new political district maps heavily favoring Democrats had been drawn up illegally.
He ordered the Legislature to quickly redraw the district boundaries, or he would appoint a neutral expert to do it for them.

That ruling has been put on hold while the state appeals.

An appeals court panel has scheduled another hearing for April 20. The case could ultimately be decided by New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals. The primary has been scheduled for June 28.
In his ruling Friday, Lindley said he would allow McAllister to retain a neutral expert to draw up a new congressional map, if he wishes to do so, to be used if the Legislature’s maps are eventually struck down.

Lindley said the legislature could also draw up a contingency map, if it desires.

If they survive court challenges, the maps will mean re-election trouble for several Republican House members, while scrapping the maps could affect House Democrats’ efforts to maintain their majority.

The contested lines would give Democrats a strong majority of registered voters in 22 of the 26 U.S. congressional districts New York will have in 2023. Republicans, who now hold eight of the state’s 27 seats in the U.S. Congress, would only have an advantage in the remaining four districts.

The state is losing a congressional seat due to the 2020 Census data; New York fell just 89 residents short of holding onto all 27 of its districts.

Lawyers for the state Senate and Assembly assured Lindley on Thursday that the maps will pass constitutional muster.

Legislative leaders have said they don’t plan to redraw the maps, and defended them as reflecting population loss in former Republican upstate bastions.

Lindley said Thursday he was chiefly concerned about the prospect of allowing voters to pick candidates based on unconstitutional maps, and said New York must be ready for the possibility of congressional primaries delayed as late as August 23 or 24.

The state judge also struck down the Assembly and Senate maps on procedural grounds.

But Lindley did not allow backup plans for legislative maps in his Friday order. He said there was “less need” for a court master to draw up new legislative maps because the lower court didn’t find they were unconstitutionally gerrymandered.

Congressional District Map Approved by NYS Legislature on Feb. 2, 2022

ABC News reports a New York appeals judge said he will “likely” rule Friday on whether to continue blocking a lower court ruling that declared the state’s new congressional and legislative district maps unconstitutional.

New York’s electoral landscape was thrown into question last week when a Republican trial court judge ordered the state’s Democrat-controlled legislature to redraw the district boundaries.

State Judge Patrick McAllister gave state officials only until April 11 to submit new maps, saying the districts they had drawn up were illegally gerrymandered to favor Democrats.

The ruling came even as candidates have begun campaigning in the disputed districts ahead of a June party primary.

State Appellate Division Justice Stephen Lindley has already issued a temporary stay on that ruling. He said he’ll decide sometime after Thursday’s hearing whether to leave the stay in place for now, pending more legal action in the weeks ahead.

He could also lift the stay, which would put state lawmakers on an incredibly tight deadline to come up with new maps. Judge McAllister has said if lawmakers don’t meet his deadline, he would appoint his own expert to draw up new maps. The state would likely cover the cost of a special master. Courts sometimes designate an attorney not directly involved with a case, known as a special master, to address such concerns.

Lawyers for the Assembly and Senate argued Thursday that the ruling should be blocked for at least 30 days, and criticized the trial judge’s decision to strike down largely uncontroversial Assembly maps.
Meanwhile, a lawyer for the Republican voters demanded that lawmakers or a court master start working up new maps soon.

Judge Lindley said his primary concern is ensuring New York is ready if appellate judges agree that the new Congressional maps — and potentially Senate maps — are unconstitutional and must be redrawn.

Lindley said that back-up maps could be tossed if the appellate court decides the contested maps pass constitutional muster. He said New York could hold its federal primary as late as around August 23 or 24.

Thursday’s hearing likely won’t be the final word on the main issue: whether the new maps are so politically biased toward Democrats that they violate the state constitution.

The arguments are “just a skirmish along the way,” according to former U.S. Rep. John Faso, a Republican who has been helping muster support for the lawsuit challenging the maps’ legality.

A hearing for more arguments has already been scheduled for April 20.

Congressional District Map Approved by NYS Legislature on Feb. 2, 2022

The Associated Press reports a trial court ruling that declared New York’s new congressional and legislative district maps unconstitutional was temporarily stayed by a state appeals court judge Monday.

The interim order from state Appellate Division Justice Stephen Lindley is in effect until Thursday, when oral arguments in the case are scheduled. Another decision on whether to extend the stay is expected later that day.

The order comes four days after a trial court judge in Steuben County threw the state’s primary season in turmoil by ruling the state’s districts were illegally gerrymandered to benefit Democrats. The ruling by

Judge Patrick McAllister on Thursday had given state officials until April 11 to submit new maps.
Governor Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders promptly appealed that decision.

Primary elections are scheduled June 28 and candidates are already campaigning in the new districts.