NYS assembly redistricting

The NYS Independent Redistricting Commission (NYIRC) is charged with redistricting congressional and state legislative districts based on new Census data every ten years. 

After the controversial process that resulted in changes in NYS district lines for the 2022 election, it is especially important that decisions made by the Commission result in fair representation for all voters in NYS in coming elections.

The NYIRC is currently working to address NYS Assembly District boundaries.  Billed as a bipartisan body, the NYIRC has set up a process to allow for input from the public to ensure that the resulting district maps are representative and reflect broad public input. A visit to their website gives a history of this process, along with videos of public hearings and written comments on their current work. The FAQ section on the website reviews the factors that go into decisions about how to define new district lines.

The most recent public hearing, which took place in Albany on January 25th is here.  Go to time mark 1:47 to hear several comments by Columbia County residents talking about the advisability and rationale to keep all of Columbia County as part of our current district, AD 106 (represented by Assembly Member Didi Barrett), due to numerous economic, cultural, and historic factors.

Our Columbia County Democratic Committee has formed an Assembly Redistricting Working Group to help formulate additional commentary and involvement in testimony or written comments to the NYIRC.  That group will be meeting on Wednesday, February 1 at 7 PM on Zoom. You must register in advance to attend the Redistricting Working Group meeting and can do so by clicking here to register. All registered Democrats are invited to attend.

Any questions about this process or initiative can be directed to info@columbiacountydemocrats.org.