The New York State new district map saw its day in court, particularly because of the blatantly partisan nature of its construction. Though many Democratic constituents want the strong Democratic majority, we cannot excuse blatant gerrymandering, especially by a margin that isn’t fully representative of the people of New York, as Michael Li from the Brennan Law Center emphasizes.

The need from the Democrats to offset Republican gerrymandered states should not come from more gerrymandering, but rather from a greater push for national reform. Now is not the time for parties to point fingers for the same behavior they both participate in.

Additionally, many Asian Americans have said the redistricted maps reduce the voting power of their communities. The efforts to create an exaggerated majority in New York state are actively splitting up Asian American communities in ways that are mirrored across the country, especially in Texas by Republicans. We should be wary of tactics that split up communities for the sake of increasing party power, while simultaneously weakening the political efficacy of marginalized communities.

As Republicans gerrymander our own Onondaga County district, there is a clear and urgent need to end gerrymandering altogether. Gerrymandering is just one more issue on the list of disappointments against our political system from both parties. Voters are not political pawns — they are individuals with a voice. This is why we need citizen-led redistricting to achieve proper representation.

Although New York voters passed a Constitutional Amendment in 2014 to create the New York State Independent Redistricting Commission, the commission’s flaws — such as having too much influence from the incumbent party’s task force in the mapmaking process — prevent its goal to ensure that “the voice of the voters of New York is both reflected and protected.”

We need a truly independent, citizen-run redistricting commission similar to the system used in California that follows clear map making guidelines to ensure accurate representation that doesn’t dilute community voting strength. To see the necessary changes in our state redistricting process, members of the SU community need to become vocal to our state representatives. Through means such as calling their office or attending a lobbying meeting, we must demand our state representatives to prioritize the issue of gerrymandering and ultimately push them to pass a new constitutional amendment that creates a redistricting commission run by the people, not politicians.

Evelina Torres, Class of 2025

Published on March 27, 2022 at 9:12 pm