The Liberty Daily 
(The Epoch Times)—New York Democrats are moving to give state lawmakers the power to redraw the state’s congressional maps, entering the national fight over control of the U.S. House.
The proposed constitutional amendment would allow lawmakers to draw district lines themselves and redraw them mid-decade. It had not been formally filed as of Tuesday morning, but The Epoch Times has reviewed a memo describing the proposed changes.
The proposed amendment would change New York’s redistricting system in several ways. According to the memo, state lawmakers could draw the maps themselves if the state’s independent redistricting commission fails to agree on a plan, and could approve maps with a simple majority vote rather than the larger vote the constitution now requires.
Court fights over the maps would go back to the Legislature, rather than to a court-appointed expert known as a special master. And lawmakers could redraw congressional districts between the once-a-decade census counts.
The memo also lists new rules for how maps must be drawn. They would still bar maps that weaken the voting power of racial or language minorities and would still require districts to be equal in population and connected. The list does not include the constitution’s current ban on drawing districts “for the purpose of favoring or disfavoring incumbents or other particular candidates or political parties.”
New York voters created the independent commission in 2014, approving a constitutional amendment meant to take map-drawing out of politicians’ hands. The system encountered issues the last time it was used.
After the commission deadlocked, Democrats in the Legislature drew their own maps. In 2022, the state’s highest court threw them out, ruling they were an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander, and a special master drew the lines instead.
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins defended the plan in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times on Tuesday, June 2.
“New York cannot afford to stand still,” she said. “We cannot ignore the reality that Republicans have repeatedly sought to undermine democracy through various attempts to gain political advantage. At a time when democracy is under attack across the country, we have a responsibility to protect all voters including the minority communities and ensure that every New Yorker continues to have a voice. This legislation remains firmly rooted in the democratic process, giving New Yorkers themselves the final say at the ballot box.”
She added, “We believe these changes will ensure that our state has the tools necessary to preserve a level playing field in the face of Republican-led efforts to tilt maps and weaken democratic participation—without compromising the integrity of the Independent Redistricting Commission.”
The push follows a wave of mid-decade redistricting that began in Texas last summer, when Republicans moved to redraw their congressional map at President Donald Trump’s urging. California Democrats responded with their own redraw. Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia, Florida, and Tennessee have since taken up mid-decade efforts, with other states discussing the matter as well.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) has made the state’s congressional lines part of his strategy to win back the House. He tapped Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) to coordinate with state officials, and Morelle met with Gov. Kathy Hochul and legislative leaders in Albany on May 5.
The change would not happen quickly. A constitutional amendment in New York must pass the Legislature twice, this year and again after the 2026 elections, and then win approval from voters. The earliest it could affect any maps is the 2028 election. The legislative session ends June 4.
Republicans oppose the plan. In a May 31 statement to The Epoch Times, Assembly Minority Leader Ed Ra, a Republican, called any plan to redraw maps mid-decade or change the commission “a shameful attempt to nullify the will of the voters.”
At a June 1 news conference as those reports continued to surface, Ra said Democrats started the fight in New York well ahead of Texas’s move last year.
“It was started by New York State Democrats,” he said, referring to previous maps drawn by New York Democrats. He noted that voters rejected a similar measure in 2021.
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) said New York Democrats drew their own maps in 2022 to protect their House majority.
“They just went and drew their own maps and totally disregarded the Constitution,” he said at the press conference.
Assemblyman Matt Slater, the top Republican on the Assembly Elections Committee, said the current system is functioning correctly.
“The system is working,” he said on June 1, adding New York now has “some of the most competitive congressional districts anywhere in the country.”
Sen. Mark Walczyk, the top Republican on the Senate Elections Committee, said voters were clear in 2014.
“We want an independent redistricting commission,” he said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
