Fairness of state district lines faulted

Buffalo News, The (NY)
April 21, 2006

Legislative districts in New York State drawn by lawmakers in the majority parties of the Senate and the Assembly to protect incumbents are denying fair representation, according to government watchdog groups.

Advocates on Thursday called for an independent commission to shape Senate and Assembly districts before district lines are redrawn after the 2010 census.

"With this rigged system, lawmakers are choosing their voters rather than voters choosing their lawmakers," said Rachel Leon of Common Cause.

By law, the population of Senate and Assembly districts can vary no more than 10 percent. This means that Senate districts vary from about 291,000 to 321,000 people.

Census trends show that the upstate Senate districts with the smallest populations controlled by Republicans are losing voters while districts held by Democrats are growing. Yet Republicans still control the chamber.

In the Democratic-led Assembly, where districts ranged from 121,000 to 133,000 people, the differences likely shrunk as New York City gained in population and Republican upstate areas lost residents. But on Long Island, already high-population Republican districts grew, according to the new study by New York Public Interest Research Group and other groups.

"When you draw the lines with 10 percent difference in population, you're starting out in a system that is fundamentally unfair," said NYPIRG's Blair Horner.

The study said that only 34 incumbents in the Senate and Assembly have been defeated in elections in the last 24 years, a period in which more than 2,500 legislative contests were held.

"The system used has been repeatedly upheld by the courts as constitutional and has been the subject of numerous public hearings," said Mark Hansen, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno, R-Brunswick.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, has said in the past that he is open to looking at changes in redistricting, said spokesman Charles R. Carrier.

Author: Mark Johnson - ASSOCIATED PRESS
Section: News
Page: A7
Dateline: ALBANY
Copyright (c) 2006 The Buffalo News